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RUNNING HEAD: COMPARATIVE ESSAY

The Spirit Catches You: Comparative Essay

Joelle Loo

Beginning in the 1970s, the Hmong people have immigrated to the United States to flee
the unstable state of Laos. The Hmong have been adapted into the American culture now, but
many Americans know little about the culture that the Hmong come from. The Hmong culture
revolves around family and honoring the human spirit through rituals and ceremonies. One
phenomenon that carries the basic elements of Hmong beliefs is childbirth. Although it may
seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of todays concern over cultural awareness. The
paradigms that influence the practices of Hmong childbirth contrast greatly with those of U.S.
childbirth. Although the American and Hmong cultures have similarities in their childbirth
practices, there are prominent differences in the ways each approaches childbirth.
The main and perhaps only similarity in American and Hmong childbirth is family
involvement in the process. Both cultures incorporate family members into the process of
childbirth as they support the mother. In the Hmong culture, the family involvement is much
greater than in American culture and according to both Culhane-Pera and Sriphetcharawut
(2014), the husband must support the woman in a squat position while she is in labor. In addition,
the Hmong usually have a family member pick up the baby and tend to it as soon as it is
delivered (p.4). Family involvement is also seen in the American practices of childbirth as it is
common for a family member to cut the umbilical cord once the baby is delivered. Though both
the Hmong and American cultures both include the family in the way children are brought into

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the world, they feature different strategies which contributes to how the two cultures are more
different than alike in regards to how they approach childbirth.
The first major difference that can be seen between Americans and Hmong when giving
birth is the location in which the women deliver their babies. In the book The Spirit Catches You
and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman writes that Hmong women are expected to give birth in their
own home or in the home of a family member if they cannot make it to their own in time (1997,
p.4). This contrasts greatly with the sterile hospitals where Americans most commonly choose to
deliver. While home births do occur in the American culture, it is not the standard as it is to the
Hmong. This difference shows that Hmong and American people have very different practices in
the phenomenon of childbirth.
Another underlying paradigm in Hmong childbirth is the ceremonies that the culture has
relating to the event. These ceremonies require much attention from the mother as well as her
family in order to make sure all are observed properly. As soon as the child is born, the family
must ceremonially bury the placenta in the dirt foundation of the house, with the location
depending on the gender of the child. Another ceremony must be held after the baby has been
alive for three days in order to choose a name. After going through labor, the mother must be
sure to eat a blackened boiled egg in another ceremony for the babys health. All of these
ceremonies, according to Culhane-Pera, contribute to the phenomenon of how the Hmong go
about childbirth (2014, p.7). These ceremonies continue the trend of contrast with the American
culture in that there are no ceremonies that are strictly observed by most families that have
children. The only protocol that applies to all American families is baby showers and birth
announcements if the family chooses to do so. These ceremonies are much more casually
planned and attended than the Hmong ceremonies surrounding childbirth. This continuing

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contrast supports the theme of the Hmong having very different paradigms that influence the
mutual phenomenon of childbirth.
The final paradigm involved in the Hmong childbirth process is the belief of an extensive
amount of taboos. These taboos are all cultural nuances that most Hmong know about and know
to avoid in order to stay healthy. For example, Anne Fadiman writes that, many Hmong believe
that cold foods during the postpartum period make the blood congeal in the womb instead of
cleansing it by flowing freely, and that a woman who does not observe the taboo against them
will develop itchy skin or diarrhea in her old age. (1997, p.9). This taboo is just one example of
many and shows that the Hmong pay attention to many details during childbirth that they think
may affect their future that Americans do not. The article Crossing Borders in Birthing
Practices also provides insight into some of the taboos like how elders can help the laboring
mother ask forgiveness for her previous disrespectful actions to her in-laws that might be
blocking the labor process (2014, p.2). This is another example of a taboo that Hmong are
aware of when giving birth, and shows their dedication to family and respect that runs deep in
the Hmong culture. American childbirth involves no such taboos, which goes to show yet another
difference in the factors that influence the way the cultures go about childbirth.
There are prominent differences in the ways that the American and Hmong cultures
approach childbirth, despite having some similarities in their childbirth practices. Family
involvement is present in both cultures, but draws from different motivations in each. The
differences in how Americans and Hmong go about the location, ceremonies, and taboos of
childbirth are much greater than the one common thread of family involvement. These
differences are a result of varied paradigms coming into play in order to influence how people
act. The lack of similarities between the two cultures over the phenomenon of childbirth may

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lead one to conclude that the cultures contrast greatly on a larger level. It is no surprise then that
the story of Lia Lee in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down revolves around the two
cultures not meshing well. With so many cultural paradigms in play, it is very difficult for each
side to understand where the other is coming from. However, if these differences could be looked
over, each culture could learn from each other about the best practices in caring for people.
Perhaps Americans could explore how the taboos of the Hmong are attempting to prevent harm
on the people they apply to. Likewise, the Hmong may be able to look at American views of
health care and consider accepting that modern medicine can help better if not restricted by a
web of taboos to avoid. As a whole, each culture has their unique approach to childbirth that is
effective, but a fusion of the extreme contrasts may yield a positive result that honors cultural
awareness and differences.

COMPARATIVE ESSAY

References
Culhane-Pera, K., Sriphetcharawut, S., PhD., Thawsirichuchai, R., Yangyuenkun, W., &
Kunstadte, P., PhD. (2014). Crossing borders in birthing practices: A hmong village in
northern thailand (1987-2013). Hmong Studies Journal, 15(2), 1-21.
Fadiman, A. (1997). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American
doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Graff, Gerald. And Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic
Writing. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.