Rhea Bhaskar is a 32-year-old woman, 20 weeks pregnant, whom you meet at a prenatal clinic. She works as a computer programmer for a wicker import company. She has a 12-year-old daughter from a...

Rhea Bhaskar is a 32-year-old woman, 20 weeks pregnant, whom you meet at a prenatal clinic. She works as a computer programmer for a wicker import company. She has a 12-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. She has been married to Siddharth, who sells real estate for 6 months. Rhea is concerned because they have just moved to a new community and her daughter (whose father was Black) “hates” their new house and her new school; she also feels as if she “doesn’t fit in.” She no longer likes to eat at home because Rhea has begun using Indian spices, such as curry, when she cooks to please her new husband. Rhea asks you if cooking more “soul food” the way she used to would make her daughter feel more like part of her family and new community. Rhea is also not pleased with her prenatal clinic; when she said she wanted rhubarb tea as her only fluid to drink during labor, wanted silence during the birth, and to keep her placenta to be turned into capsules for her to take afterward, the charge nurse told her she could not give her the placenta as that would be against infection rules and rhubarb tea wasn’t on their list of approved beverages.

1. Rhea is trying to integrate two cultures. Will changing only one thing, such as preparing food differently, make a difference in how her 12-year-old feels about fitting in with their new lifestyle? What are other suggestions you might make to help her daughter adapt to a new family lifestyle?

2. Was the nurse accurate when she said taking a placenta home would be against infection guidelines? Were Rhea’s other requests so difficult to carry out that a birth center couldn’t adapt to meet them?

3. Rhea’s daughter feels she’s different than other children at her school. What ideas could you suggest to Rhea to help her daughter better adjust to her new school and community?