Cultural barriers between obstetrician-gynecologists and Vietnamese/Chinese immigrant women

In the latter part of the 20th century, Asian immigration has exploded. The two main groups, Chinese and Vietnamese, share many cultural views. Confucianism, Taoism, and spiritualism play an important role in the Chinese and Vietnamese psyches and influence deeply their beliefs of health, disease, birth, and death. Before the introduction of Western medicine, both countries relied heavily on the Taoist model of health and disease. That is, disease is disharmony in the body and herbal medicines are used to restore that balance. Since the introduction of Western medicine, the two countries have adopted a crisis-oriented system of care in which, except for vaccinations, preventive medicine is virtually ignored. The Confucian beliefs of privacy and female modesty have made the field of obstetrics and gynecology particularly susceptible to noncommunication and misunderstandings, while traditional beliefs in Taoist medicine may delay or interfere with Western health care.