POSTPARTUM MATERNAL CARE TRADITION AMONG TIMOR TRIBE IN TIMOR TENGAH SELATAN REGENCY NUSA TENGGARA TIMUR PROVINCE

Abstract

Background: Indonesia consists of thousands of large and small islands inhabited by hundreds of ethnic groups with diverse cultures, has created a distinctive unique including in health efforts. Timor tribe is one of the tribes in Indonesia that has a culture in postpartum maternal care, which is called Sei tradition. The tradition of sei is a tradition of piling / warming up new mothers with their babies for 40 days in the round house "ume kbubu".This study aims to explore more information about the practice of postpartum maternal care in Timor Tribe in Timor Tengah Selatan District.

Materials and Methods: This research is a qualitative research with phenomenology design. Data collection was conducted through in-depth interviews with 12 postpartum mothers, traditional leaders and health workers in October 2018  untill August  2019 in Mollo Utara sub-district, Timor Tengah Selatan District.

Result: The results showed that post partum maternal care was based on hereditary traditions, the types of care were fumigation of the mother and babyduring puerperium, hot compresses (tatobi) using hot water, food restrictions and prohibitions on going out until a thanksgiving event called “kon afu”.

Conclusion: The Timor community believes this practice makes mothers recover faster and babies are stronger but in terms of health this tradition has a negative impact on the health of postpartum mothers and newborns.

Keywords: Tradition, Postpartum Care, Timor Tribe, Maternal Care, Indonesia