hildren. These behaviors range from the father taking to his bed, to the eating or hunting of certain foods or animals, etc. These customs are embedded in a larger culture which affect members of the family or even the community. An extreme example includes that of the Chiriguanoa Indians of Paraguay, the father and children lie-in and fast at the birth of a new child. A practice in northern France includes the father and the mother retiring to bed after the birth and death of the child. Dietary restrictions are observed in some cultures. Father-absence is also found (Broude, 1988).
Rautava (1989) studied the characteristics of pregnant women in Finland. Results demonstrate that practically all pregnant women in Finland use maternity health care services. Those with a low childbirth knowledge, however, needed more health counseling and were similar to mothers in other countries who do not use these services. Mothers with low knowledge tended to be unemployed, younger, living near or with parents, and less educated. They felt no need for health services, smoked more, had less physical exercise, ate less vegetables and more fatty foods, used more drugs, had fewer leisure activities, read fewer books and used fewer cultural services; they reported feeling closer to their own mothers than did those with high birth knowledge. These women had many friends in the neig
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