Case Study 1

The following case study illustrates the intergenerational issues and conflicts between a young Indian couple and the child’s paternal grandparents about child rearing practices. The case study provides a question for viewers to consider and reflect on.

Case Study 1: Neonatal care and intergenerational issues (Indian)

Jayanti is a 1.5 generation New Zealand trained registered nurse. She and husband Shri are from Mumbai. Jayanti and Shri have a 3 year old son, Narayan, and a five month old daughter, Nirmala. The couple has their own ideas about neonatal care practices, leading to arguments with the child’s paternal grandparents who live close by.

The couple speaks Marathi at home. They practice the Hindu faith, attend cultural and religious events, and are strongly connected to their extended family and community. Jayanti and Shri place considerable importance on maintaining their language and cultural and religious practices. However, in the area of child rearing they want to do things “the Kiwi way”.

Shri’s parents are a very supportive and are very involved in helping with the children. However, Jayanti is determined to be much more firm with her mother-in-law about deciding on child rearing practices for her baby daughter, following the experience of her insistence on controlling every aspect of Narayan’s upbringing. 

Nirmala has been a very unsettled baby and Jayanti has successfully used the strategies offered by the Well Child/Tamariki Ora nurse. This has resulted in Nirmala sleeping overnight since she was 2 ½ months old. Jayanti’s mother-in-law is highly critical of Jayanti’s parenting style, which she considers to be too tough.