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Dietary preferences and traditional practices according to the desired gender of the baby among pregnant women in South Eastern Turkey

Background: Superstition and traditional practices regarding pregnancy exist in various cultures around the world and are passed down from generation to generation. As a result of the literature review, it was observed that there weren't prospective and cross-sectional studies involving traditional practices and dietary preferences of pregnant women before and after determining the gender according to the gender of the baby they want. The purpose of this study was to determine dietary preferences, superstitions and traditional practices before and after determining the gender of the baby according to the desired gender of the baby among pregnant women. Methods: The research was a descriptive cross-sectional study and adopted the pretest-posttest research design. As the data collection tool, both investigators-designed questionnaire forms and the non-functional beliefs and practices scale (NFBPS) related to pregnancy to the same pregnant women were applied before and after the determination of baby gender in the first and second trimesters respectively. Results: The study found that 85% of the pregnant women thought that dietary preferences during pregnancy have an impact on the gender of the true baby. The results showed that superstitions and traditional practices were known and practiced by pregnant women at a young age, uneducated, living in the province and having a large family type (p<0.05). Conclusions: Health professionals, should pay attention to less educated, younger pregnant women to reinforce positive cultural health practices, discourage to them from using harmful ones superstition and traditional practice by providing non-critical scientific explanations.