Cultural Food Practices During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period Among African Migrant Women Living in Australia: A Qualitative Study

Among African societies, cultural food practices can restrict or prohibit women from consuming specific foods during pregnancy. These restrictions can limit both the quantity and quality of food intake. Understanding these practices is crucial for supporting women to identify appropriate food during pregnancy and to navigate nutrition information. This study aimed to explore the cultural food practices of African migrant women living in Australia and to identify their sources of nutrition information during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with fifteen women who were either currently pregnant or had experienced pregnancy within the past 5 years were conducted. Participants were recruited through purposive, convenience, and snowball sampling methods. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Three themes were identified: food practices during pregnancy and postpartum, barriers to maintaining cultural food practices, and nutritional information. Findings reveal that only a few participants maintained their cultural food practices, influenced by the limited availability and high costs of African foods, food acculturation, inadequate postpartum support, and varying knowledge about pregnancy and postpartum diets in Australia. Participants considered the information they received from healthcare providers about traditional foods to be in conflict with other sources of information and highlighted the absence of culturally relevant nutritional information in hospital-provided materials. Designing culturally appropriate nutrition resources that include African foods could help pregnant African migrant women navigate competing nutrition information. Such resources could assist healthcare professionals when delivering culturally tailored nutrition guidance, thereby contributing to the health and well-being of African migrant women and their children living in Australia.