[Health promotion. Health promoting behavior for women's health: an analysis on meanings of Sanhujori, Korea, postpartum care].

Abstract

This ethnographic exploratory study sought to define the meaning of Sanhujori from the perspective of the women who experienced it. Participant observation and interviews indicated that the women perceived the postpartum to be a new state of being, in which they underwent profound physiological, psychological, and sociological changes. Sanhujori was regarded as a phenomenon including belief system and practice system of care that would assure the successful recovery of the woman, her long-term well-being, and the health of her child. Sanhujori as a Belief System includes know-how, period, rationale, condition and consequences built upon six principles. They included: invigorating the body by augmentation of heat and avoidance of cold; resting without working; eating well; protecting the body from harmful strains; keeping cleanness; and handling with the whole heart. Sanhujori as a Practice System is a dynamic process performing according to Belief System. A failure to "Doing a Sanhujori well" was believed to put the mother at risk for a variety of ills (Sanhubyung). Influencing factors on the process included personal and environmental factors. This finding raises a basic question about the relation of professional care during the postpartum to the women's received cultural beliefs about that care.