cultural careInformation about cultural patterns in this article and others in this series represents generalizations, which should not be mistaken for stereotypes. Cultural generalizations will not fit every patient, but awareness of broad patterns can give practitioners a starting point from which to provide appropriate care. The information on Iranian births in this article is taken from H Hafizi's chapter in Culture and Nursing Care : A PocketGuide, edited by J G Lipson, S L Dibble, and P A Minarek.
The most difficult patient that Susan, a labor and delivery nurse, ever attend end was Robabeh, an Iranian woman. Robabeh yelled and screamed throughout her entire uncomplicated labor. After the delivery of their infant,Robabeh's husband gave her a 3-karat diamond ring. When Susan commented on the expensive gift, Robabeh explained dramatically that it was because “Hemade me suffer so much.” It is customary among Iranians to compensate the woman with expensive gifts for the suffering she experiences during childbirth ; the greater the suffering, the greater the gifts, especially if the child is a boy. No one will know how much she is suffering if she does it in silence. 1
