culture barriers reflection

In this reflection I shall be writing about a new birth visit which was done on a Muslim family. It was decided prior to the visit that I would be leading the assessment, under the supervision of a fully qualified health visitor. Before entering the house of the family consent was gained from the father. The father had taken us upstairs into a bedroom where the mother who was staying, as they shared the house with other members of the father’s family. In the bedroom there was no obvious place for us to sit. The father of the baby invited us to sit on the bed with the mother who was sitting on the opposite side of the bed changing the nappy of the baby. The father of the child stood by the bedroom door looking at us as we began the new birth visit.
I began the visit by introducing myself and explaining the purpose of the visit. My focus was mainly on the mother, but I noticed that she was avoiding eye contact with me and showed little acknowledgement of my presence. When asking questions directed at the mother the father answered, and then gained confirmation from the mother. Hearing the couple discuss the answers highlighted that the language used was not a barrier. At this point I knew that me being a male was an issue for the family. Being aware of this, I directed the questions to the father, in an attempt to respect the family’s beliefs and values. This approach seemed to work, however it did not allow me to engage with the mother and assess the relationship between the mother and baby.
It was identified in the assessment that the mother was exclusively breastfeeding her infant. In order to ensure that the baby was feeding correctly, a more in depth discussion took place concerning breastfeeding. After asking a few questions the father appeared uncomfortable. I was asked by the father if a female health professional could carry out future assessment as he felt it was inappropriate for me to be asking his wife questions regarding such personal