Understanding the Socio-Cultural Implications for Nutritional Recommendations during Pregnancy and Afterward (An ethnographic study among women and Sistani families)

Pregnancy, parturition and anything related to maternal status, is represented as a series of elements, factors and phenomena; including dietary do's and donts that one is obliged to observe that.The aforesaid recommendations should be considered as a recommendation of a culture which is represented itself in the form of preparation and consumption of a collection of foods. Accordingly, the present study aimed at understanding the implications that can be deduced by reflection on effort to this preparation and consumption. This study has been conducted in the geographical zone from Zahedan to northern areas of Sistan and Balouchestan Province, by movement of a kind of multi-level theoretical view, and based on a qualitative approach and in a way of ethnographic. Our results indicate that these implications are not only emphasized on bio-medical function of the postpartum-based dietary recommendations.Now, the preparation and consumption of some foods, such as Sistani Kachi which has a unique combination compared to other similar versions, represent the implications that must be interpreted symbolically and semantically. These foods, in addition to facilitating the marking of an event, are context to create a maternal identity, and beyond that, to highlight the borders and other distinctions too.