Every society follows its own traditional health-care beliefs and practices during and after pregnancy, which is intimately linked to its socio-cultural environment. The objective of the present study was to document pregnancy-related food practices and the social-cultural factors linked with them.

The present study was a cross-sectional one conducted among a group of women residing in five villages in east Sikkim, India. Mothers who had given birth to a child one year before the survey participated in the study. The mothers answered a pre-tested questionnaire on food habits and practices followed antepartum and for 6 weeks postpartum.

The study group consisted of 199 women of Nepali caste groups with variations in economic condition.

More than 86 % of mothers consumed special foods during the postpartum period. Taboos on different food categories during the postpartum were reported only by 65·3 % of mothers. Factors found to be significantly associated with special food consumption were literacy status during the antepartum and parity during the postpartum.

The change in consumption patterns reflects the success of a safe motherhood campaign propagated by the government. Detailed investigation in this area, involving per capita daily consumption during pregnancy and the postpartum period, is needed.