White Bonnets

The hospital staff presents gift packets of white infant bonnets to mothers of newborns, but the Asian mothers refuse to place them on their babies’ heads.

What does it mean?

In many Asian cultures, wearing white signifies mourning. If a baby wears white, it means that its parent is dead. The parents didn’t want to tempt fate.

Many hospitals attempt to accommodate to cultural differences. Locally, at Cedars Sinai Hospital, one elevator automatically stops at each floor, allowing Orthodox Jewish families to avoid breaking the taboo of pushing buttons on the Sabbath.

Elsewhere, Southeast Asian new moms receive chicken soup and may be wrapped in many blankets to keep in the heat, compliant with their post-partum beliefs. Hospitals may also allow them to wear white wrist strings in the operating room to bind their spirits to their bodies.

When the family of a very ill Gypsy child refused to leave the youngster alone and created a human circle around the bed, the nursing staff allowed it as long as it didn’t interfere with hospital procedures.