ABSTRACT
In African societies, cultural food practices often restrict or prohibit the consumption of certain foods during pregnancy. While some of these practices persist after migration, how healthcare professionals (HCPs) perceive the influence of these practices on African migrant women’s food practices in Australia remains unexplored. Understanding HCPs’ perceptions of African migrant women’s food practices will provide insights into how these practices are understood and addressed in clinical settings. This study examines HCPs’ perceptions of the cultural food practices and nutrition behaviours of African migrant women during pregnancy and the postpartum period in Australia. Participants were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 HCPs who had experience providing antenatal care to African migrant women in Australia. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Three themes were identified: (1) HCPs’ perceptions of women’s cultural food practices, (2) challenges in delivering general healthy eating information, and (3) strategies for providing effective nutrition advice. Few HCPs were aware of the specific restrictive food practices among the African migrant women they support. HCPs perceived that the healthy eating information provided to these women was not always effective and culturally appropriate due to the constraints on consultation time and a lack of culturally appropriate resources. Participants expressed a need for in-service education, tailored resources on African foods to enhance culturally appropriate care, and support for continuity of care. This study highlights the challenges HCPs face in providing culturally appropriate nutrition support to African migrant women during pregnancy and postpartum. Addressing these gaps through supportive training for HCPs and culturally tailored resources for women is needed.
Maternal &Child Nutrition, Volume 22, Issue 2, April 2026. Read More