Parenting in Morocco

1. Introduction: Setting the Context for Moroccan Child-Rearing

1.1. Morocco: A Confluence of Islamic, Berber, and Modern Influences

The practice of raising young children in Morocco is deeply rooted in a confluence of enduring cultural traditions, the foundational principles of Islam, and increasingly, the influence of globalization and modern public health science. Moroccan society is structurally defined by the nuclear and extended family unit, where kinship bonds are considered the most crucial component of social life.¹ The bond between parents and children is highly revered, and deference to parents and elders is a key cultural expectation.¹

The religious framework provided by Islam fundamentally shapes the child’s early socialization and life cycle rites.² Religious requirements dictate ceremonies such as the Aqiqah ⁴ and govern gender roles within the family, impacting how fathers and mothers engage in child-rearing.² The concept of education is tightly interwoven with discipline and socialization, where the acquisition of Koranic knowledge is seen as having a direct impact on moral behavior, serving as an integral part of 'learning to be human and Muslim'.³

This expert report integrates findings from comprehensive national surveys, predictive epidemiological modeling, and detailed qualitative ethnographic studies conducted across various Moroccan provinces.⁵ This robust methodological approach is necessary to capture the complex, lived realities of parents and community members, exploring the traditional knowledge—or "lifeworld knowledge"—that often informs prenatal and postpartum decision-making and influences health outcomes.⁷

1.2. Disparity and the Need for Nuance

A critical aspect of analyzing child-rearing in Morocco is the recognition of pronounced disparities. Significant inequalities persist between urban and rural populations, notably in maternal and infant health outcomes.⁶ For instance, access to essential maternal and child health services remains considerably lower in rural areas, directly affecting outcomes such as facility birth rates and childhood nutrition.⁹

Furthermore, researchers frequently encounter a methodological challenge: while traditional Moroccan customs are pervasive, there is a noted lack of comprehensive research documenting many of the specific practices associated with the postpartum period.⁶ The reliance on qualitative work is thus essential to reveal hidden social dynamics, address human interactions in healthcare, and understand the local contexts that drive patient decision-making.⁸ The dual nature of traditional practices—some offering positive support (e.g., prolonged family rest) and others posing potential harm (e.g., using toxic substances in traditional medicine) ⁶—necessitates a nuanced, non-judgmental approach to intervention design. The challenge for public health strategies is to discern which deeply valued cultural rules (be they religious mandates, family traditions, or community beliefs) are adaptable and which are considered spiritually non-negotiable, often overriding immediate clinical concerns.

2. Rites of Passage: Establishing the Newborn’s Identity and Community

The initiation of a Moroccan child into their community and faith is marked by crucial ceremonies and defined care rituals that begin immediately following birth.

2.1. The Aqiqah (Akika) and Sebou' Ceremony

The first major spiritual and social milestone is the Aqiqah, which is considered a virtuous act (Sunnah) in Islam, performed to express gratitude for the blessing of offspring.⁴ This ceremony typically occurs on the seventh day after the baby’s birth.⁴ The Aqiqah often coincides with the Sebou' party, which serves as a large social gathering for family and friends.⁴ During this combined event, livestock (usually one or two sheep) are ritually sacrificed, and the meat is shared with the community and distributed to the poor, symbolizing the parents' thankfulness and their commitment to shared community happiness.¹⁰

Feasting is integral to the Sebou', which features large communal meals. A signature dish served on this occasion is Rafissa, a highly symbolic and nutritious preparation comprising shredded bread (milui) soaked in a rich chicken broth sauce with lentils and sautéed onions, often topped with one or two whole fried chickens.¹¹ These communal feasts not only celebrate the child but also reinforce the social standing and interconnectedness of the family within the community. The celebratory nature of Moroccan birth is further documented in multimedia projects that explore the traditional music of women and birthing, such as Ya Lalla, emphasizing the significance of food, drink, and musical traditions in cementing the infant’s social position.¹²

2.2. Naming and Religious Socialization

The Islamic framework mandates that naming the child is one of the most fundamental rights of the newborn, often resulting in prolonged deliberation before a final choice is made.¹⁰ Beyond naming, early religious life includes male circumcision, performed not only for hygienic purposes but fundamentally to achieve the physical purity (tahara) required for the fulfillment of prayer.¹⁰

Early childhood socialization is heavily reliant on religious education. The discipline of Koranic memorization is institutionalized as a fundamental 'rite of passage' for children.³ This elementary Islamic education is seen as formative and preconditional education, responsible for the formation of character, moral awareness, and a spiritual basis for later learning, rather than strictly having an intellectual or economic effect. Historically, it served as a defense mechanism to preserve Muslim values against external Western influences.³

2.3. Traditional Postpartum Practices for Mother and Child

Traditional practices prioritize the health and recovery of the new mother. Beliefs surrounding the postpartum period mandate strong family support and prolonged rest, which are considered to positively affect maternal health.⁶ Mothers receive specific restorative diets, including galactagogues, which are foods and drinks believed to increase milk production, such as the restorative sellou (a highly nutritious paste containing olive oil, sesame, almonds, and toasted flour), harira (hot soup), and red meats.¹⁴

A significant traditional belief concerns the "cold of postpartum" (bard nfass), known regionally as Tajoughit or Tajjayt. This condition is believed to be hazardous to the new mother’s health and is traditionally managed exclusively outside the hospital environment, requiring specific rituals such as smoking medicinal plants (Timija and Tasrghint) until tears flow, and tightly binding the head.⁶ This deep cultural adherence to managing Tajoughit poses a critical implementation friction for modern care systems. When a traditional ailment is perceived as being beyond the treatment scope of a hospital, the credibility of clinical postpartum follow-up is diminished, potentially causing women to favor traditional healers (ferraga) or abandon crucial subsequent prenatal care visits entirely.⁶

For the infant, physical care includes the wide practice of swaddling (ssmat) for several weeks.¹⁴ Swaddling is believed to ensure the baby’s body grows straight and to calm the child, preventing them from being frightened by their own movements during dreams. This custom is deeply anchored in Moroccan tradition, particularly among Jabala and Berber women.¹⁴

3. The Household Ecology: Family Structure and Caregiving Roles

The Moroccan family is the primary environment for child development, characterized by a tight-knit extended family structure and complex, evolving power dynamics that govern caregiving decisions.

3.1. The Extended Family and Hierarchy of Authority

Moroccan families frequently live in extended arrangements, ensuring that a robust, family-based network is readily available to support new parents.¹ This communal support system is vital, particularly for first-generation mothers ¹⁶, and is the primary mechanism for the transmission of cultural knowledge and traditional medical practices.⁸

Within this structure, senior women, particularly the grandmothers (Jadda), hold a central and influential role. They serve as culturally designated primary caregivers and are key advisors to younger women on issues concerning health, nutrition, and infant care.¹⁷ Their influence is substantial, rooted in socio-cultural norms, and extends deeply into determining daily health-related practices for their grandchildren.¹⁸

3.2. Intergenerational Conflict and Health Decisions

The pronounced influence of the grandmothers creates potential tension points in maternal and child health. While invaluable as a support system, the grandmother's adherence to traditional practices can clash with the mother’s modern, clinically informed choices, generating pressure and stress for the younger generation.¹⁸ Conflict often arises regarding health-related practices during the crucial first 1,000 days of the child’s life, which can include debates over feeding schedules or the use of traditional remedies.¹⁸

The significant influence of the grandmother determines that public health campaigns focused exclusively on the mother–child dyad are structurally incomplete in Morocco, as the Jadda often holds decisive authority over critical nutritional and care choices.¹⁷ Furthermore, to maintain family harmony, both mothers and grandmothers frequently find it difficult to discuss these conflicting viewpoints openly, fearing it might lead to family conflict.¹⁸ This conflict avoidance allows potentially suboptimal or harmful traditional practices to persist silently within the household, emphasizing the necessity of strategically engaging grandmothers and transforming them into informed advocates within health programs.¹⁷

3.3. Changing Gender Roles and Coparenting

Traditionally, the family is headed by the father, while the mother is primarily responsible for domestic duties, managing the home, and caring for the children.¹ However, contemporary reality demonstrates a complex divergence from this patriarchal ideal. Research indicates that mothers often dominate the day-to-day caretaking and disciplinary roles, a dynamic that has been characterized as a "hidden matriarchy".³ While ideologies of motherhood situated within a patriarchal context persist, the practical power of mothers in the actual performance of mothering and fathering is increasing, although this shift remains often invisible to the public eye.¹⁹

The father’s role is also evolving. While older generations maintained a strict, harsh authoritarianism that sometimes led to a marginalization of the father’s position, younger and more highly educated parents are demonstrating a reorientation toward their children’s psychological needs.³ Contemporary involvement often sees fathers primarily focusing on playing games with their young children, while mothers handle the core care tasks such as changing diapers and dressing.²⁰ This involvement indicates a slight but positive correlation between coparenting and father engagement.² This shift is further fueled by younger generations adopting alternative methodologies, such as "gentle parenting," specifically to overcome what they perceive as rigid and inflexible traditional methods that caused distress in their own childhoods.²¹

4. Clinical Practices and Infant Health Outcomes

A rigorous analysis of infant care must link cultural practices to measurable health outcomes, particularly concerning nutrition and safety, through empirical data.

4.1. Infant Feeding Epidemiology in Morocco: Suboptimal Breastfeeding

Despite the widespread recognition that breastfeeding is critical for neonatal health and growth ⁵, epidemiological data indicates that breastfeeding practices in Morocco are suboptimal and inconsistent, remaining below the recommendations set by the World Health Organization (WHO).²² Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) rates demonstrate significant regional and socio-economic disparities, and national survey data reveals a concerning long-term trend.

As shown in Table 1, the EBF rate at six months plummeted drastically in the decades following the initial survey, falling from 62% in 1992 to 35% in 2018.⁵ Projections suggest that the exclusive breastfeeding rate will stagnate around 40.6% by 2025, well below necessary targets.⁵

Table 1: Morocco: Trends in Breastfeeding Prevalence (1992–2018)

The weak statistical correlation found between early breastfeeding initiation and exclusive breastfeeding continuation at six months suggests that non-initiation factors are highly influential in premature cessation.⁵ These barriers include persistent maternal knowledge gaps, inadequate postpartum clinical support, and constraints imposed by workplace dynamics and societal expectations, such as the traditional belief that working outside the home necessitates shorter breastfeeding durations.⁵ This epidemiological evidence demonstrates a critical public health challenge where socio-economic shifts and inadequate knowledge transfer have replaced previously higher rates of optimal feeding practices.

4.2. Infant Sleep Environment and SIDS Risk Mitigation

Analysis of infant sleep practices reveals a remarkable paradox concerning Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) risk. Historically, Moroccan infants residing in the Netherlands demonstrated a SIDS risk that was approximately three times lower than that of Dutch infants.¹⁵

Key protective behavioral factors underpin this historical safety profile. Moroccan mothers exhibit extremely low rates of maternal smoking (1.9% at the time of interview and during pregnancy).¹⁵ Furthermore, Moroccan families widely adhere to room sharing, often keeping the infant in the parental room without bed sharing, which is a recognized protective factor against SIDS.¹⁵ These protective behaviors exert a dominant positive effect, culturally overriding physical environment risks that might otherwise increase risk. These higher-risk practices include the frequent use of soft mattresses, pillows, duvets, and high thermal resistance bedding, which provides a statistically higher thermal resistance value in both summer and winter compared to Dutch families.¹⁵

The widespread practice of swaddling (ssmat) ¹⁴ is also viewed as a protective factor, as its calming effects may help infants accept the safer supine (back) sleeping position, potentially promoting further SIDS reduction if implemented without restricting hip movement or chest wall excursion.¹⁵ This paradoxical safety profile is a vital epidemiological finding: if cultural adherence to non-smoking and room sharing is maintained, interventions can focus specifically on improving bedding quality without needing to challenge the culturally accepted arrangement of parental room sharing, which acts as a crucial safety net.¹⁵

5. Traditional Practices: Evaluation of Risk and Benefit

A critical assessment of traditional care practices must differentiate between customs that provide psychosocial benefits and those that introduce demonstrable health threats to the newborn.

5.1. The Application of Kohl (Surma) and Henna

The application of kohl (a cosmetic often referred to as kajal or surma) and henna to newborns is a widespread cultural custom in Morocco. This practice is employed for aesthetic purposes and is believed to offer antiseptic properties, protect against the jinniya (bad spirits), and ward off the evil eye.⁶ Furthermore, some traditions hold that applying oil and kohl to the umbilical stump hastens the descent of the umbilical cord.⁶

However, the continued use of traditional kohl constitutes one of the most serious and avoidable risks to neonatal health. Traditional kohl frequently contains high concentrations of lead, often in the form of galena (lead sulfide), in a respirable dust range.²³ Clinical research confirms that infants of mothers who use these products, or infants to whom these products are applied (to the eyes or umbilical stump), often exhibit elevated levels of lead in their blood.²⁴

Lead exposure is exceptionally dangerous during infancy. Even at relatively low levels, chronic exposure may lead to irreversible neurological damage, including significant learning and behavior problems. High levels are associated with severe clinical outcomes such as anemia, kidney issues, seizures, coma, and death.²⁴ Given the severity of lead poisoning and the ease of eliminating this exposure source, the use of lead-based kohl represents the single most urgent, high-impact target for neonatal health campaigns. Successful intervention requires campaigns to ethically separate the spiritual need (protection from evil spirits) from the vehicle (lead-containing kohl), promoting safe, alternative methods for fulfilling the cultural mandate for protection.

5.2. Critiquing Other Traditional Medical Interventions

Beyond kohl, other traditional medical interventions warrant scrutiny. Practices such as applying oil to the umbilical cord and preparing remedies based on animal matter (e.g., solutions derived from chicken throat) to cure respiratory ailments in newborns are scientifically unfounded and carry the potential to cause harm.⁶ Similarly, the reliance on traditional medicine, often involving smoking medicinal plants, to treat the postpartum condition of Tajoughit may delay or replace necessary medical intervention.⁶

The existence of medical pluralism in Morocco, including the role of traditional female healers (ferraga) ⁸, dictates that collaborations and qualitative studies are essential. There is an active call for additional clinical research to conduct toxicological assessments of traditional plant and animal matter remedies, allowing public health leaders to credibly identify high-risk traditions and establish targeted interventions.²⁵

Table 2 synthesizes the clinical assessment of common traditional practices.

Table 2: Clinical Assessment of Common Traditional Moroccan Infant Care Practices

6. Socialization, Education, and Modern Trends

Parental perceptions of child development and the goals of early socialization critically influence how young Moroccans are raised, revealing a current tension between physical nurturing and cognitive stimulation.

6.1. Parental Views on Early Childhood Development (ECD)

In small-scale qualitative studies involving parents, a prevailing belief across different income and education levels is that a child's experiences during the first years of life do not significantly affect their longer-term intellectual development or school success.²⁰ Consequently, parents often attribute little value to early intellectual stimulation or formal preschool education.²⁰ Parental responsibility in the early years is therefore predominantly viewed as nurturing, focusing intensely on the physical necessities: feeding, dressing, ensuring safety, and cleanliness.²⁰

Furthermore, attitudes toward infant interaction differ significantly from Western norms. Moroccan parents are more likely than their US counterparts to believe that frequently picking up a 3-month-old baby will spoil them.²⁷ This illustrates a cultural discipline framework that prioritizes social wisdom and character formation over immediate responsiveness to the infant's psychological needs, though this perspective is undergoing change.³ The existence of this cognitive gap—the belief that early stimulation is not valuable—is the biggest non-health barrier to widespread adoption of Early Childhood Development practices.

6.2. Educational and Intervention Models

In response to the identified gaps in education and development, community-based preschool programs are being implemented. The ANEER model, for instance, focuses on community mobilization to sensitize parents to the importance of preschool and to enroll children aged four to six to prepare them for primary schooling.²⁸

A critical component of this model is the positive parenthood program, which includes monthly awareness modules designed to familiarize mothers, fathers, and the broader community with the stakes of early childhood development.²⁸ The fact that fathers already spend substantial time playing with their children ²⁰ provides a strategic avenue for intervention. Campaigns should focus on re-educating parents about the profound cognitive value embedded within existing nurturing practices (e.g., that talking, singing, and playing are foundational teaching moments) to leverage their current activities and redefine their role as the child's first educators.²⁶

6.3. The Emergence of Gentle Parenting

A significant socio-cultural modernization is underway, particularly among younger, urban, and highly educated segments of the population. There is a reorientation to stress the importance of paying attention to the child's social, emotional, and cognitive needs.³

This shift is manifested by the growing adoption of "gentle parenting" techniques.²¹ This movement serves as a direct, generational response to the rigid and inflexible traditional parenting methods experienced by parents in their own childhoods, driven by a conscious effort to overcome and stop patterns of internalized trauma and distress.²¹ The emergence of gentle parenting signals a generational pivot toward prioritizing the psychological welfare of children alongside their physical safety, reflecting the rapid evolution of contemporary Moroccan family dynamics.

7. Public Health Disparities and Intervention Strategies (Urban vs. Rural)

Achieving national and international health objectives depends entirely on addressing the severe and pervasive geographical inequalities that characterize maternal and child health outcomes in Morocco.

7.1. Mapping Health Inequity: Rural Crisis

Data clearly illustrates a critical rural health crisis. The maternal mortality rate in rural areas (111 per 100,000 live births in 2018) is more than double the rate observed in urban areas (45 per 100,000 live births).⁹ This mortality gap is paralleled by significant gaps in key preventative measures and nutritional status. The stunting rate among children under five years old in rural regions (20.5%) is nearly double that in urban areas (10.4%).⁹

Access to facility-based care is similarly unequal. Almost all women in urban settings (96%) give birth in a health facility, compared to only 73.4% of women in rural areas.⁹ The primary obstacles cited for this differential access are geographical barriers and the lack of proximity to health centers, which frequently lead to critical delays in seeking care and missed necessary interventions.⁹ This health crisis is compounded by socioeconomic factors, including lower secondary school attendance in rural areas (16% for girls, 22% for boys) compared to urban areas (44%).²⁹

7.2. Strategic Intervention: The Community Health Model

The high rural stunting rate is not solely a nutritional issue but a consequence of a systemic failure encompassing low facility birth rates, high maternal mortality, and pervasive maternal knowledge gaps regarding optimal early feeding and hygiene.⁹ Recognizing this interconnected crisis, Morocco launched a Community Health Model in 2022, supported by the World Bank, specifically designed to address maternal and child health and nutrition deficiencies in rural populations.⁹

The strategy involves the progressive scaling-up of local, community-based care to overcome geographical obstacles. For this model to succeed, it must be designed as a robust platform for long-term education, moving beyond acute care provision to deliver foundational knowledge about health, hygiene, and nutritional practices.⁹

8. Integration of Media and Documentary Evidence

The use of multimedia resources, particularly video, serves as a crucial mechanism for documenting cultural continuity, education, and social change in Moroccan child-rearing practices.

8.1. Documenting Cultural Continuity

Scholarly videos and digital archives are preserving complex Maghrebi traditions related to fertility and birth rituals. For instance, presentations on the music of women and birthing, such as the Ya Lalla project, document specific musical instruments and oral histories, showcasing the matriarchal musical traditions and community celebrations that surround birth.¹² This digitalization effort is essential for preserving traditions at risk of loss due to rapid modernization or exile.¹³

At a more immediate level, modern media platforms host family travel vlogs that offer practical, real-world documentation of raising an infant (such as a 13-month-old girl) while navigating Morocco, detailing adaptations necessary for accommodation, food, travel, and local cultural interactions.³⁰

8.2. Video as an Educational Tool

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) utilize video to disseminate information and promote best practices. The community-based preschool program ANEER, for example, uses video to showcase its successful model, including the positive parenthood modules, offering a replicable, step-by-step guide for community mobilization and parent sensitization to early childhood development stakes.²⁸ Videos also serve essential linguistic purposes, providing resources for learning Moroccan Arabic (Darija) vocabulary and sentences necessary for daily life and effective socialization.³¹ This pervasive digital presence suggests that leveraging popular digital channels (like YouTube, which hosts content on gentle parenting and family travel ²¹) is an effective channel for delivering critical public health messages in a manner aligned with contemporary media consumption habits.

9. Conclusion: Synthesis and Future Directions

Moroccan child-rearing practices are characterized by a powerful social structure that provides communal support and vigilance, yielding important health benefits, such as the historically low SIDS risk profile primarily attributed to low maternal smoking rates and high adherence to room sharing.¹⁵ However, these strengths are counterbalanced by significant clinical vulnerabilities, notably the persistence of high-risk traditional practices, severe epidemiological deficits in optimal infant nutrition, and widespread educational and health inequity.

The conflict between traditional care systems (e.g., managing the Tajoughit with traditional medicine) and modern clinical guidance poses structural barriers to effective health delivery.⁶ Furthermore, the strong influence of the Jadda and the cultural tendency to prioritize physical nurturing over early cognitive stimulation represent entrenched challenges that must be navigated with cultural intelligence.¹⁷

9.1. Recommendations for Policy and Practice

Based on this synthesis, the following recommendations are proposed to enhance maternal and infant health outcomes in Morocco:

1.     Mandatory Elimination of Lead-Based Products: Public health policy must prioritize the immediate and complete elimination of lead-containing kohl and similar products from infant care. Educational campaigns must integrate clear, decisive messaging about the severity of lead poisoning while respecting the underlying cultural or spiritual need for protection by offering non-toxic alternatives.⁶

2.     Strategic Intergenerational Engagement: Nutritional and primary health policies should formally expand their focus beyond the mother–child dyad to strategically include grandmothers. Programs must leverage the grandmother's influential role as a community advisor, providing education designed to integrate traditional respect with modern clinical standards, thereby mitigating silent intergenerational conflicts.¹⁷

3.     Aggressive Scaling of Rural Health Infrastructure: The Community Health Model ⁹ and parallel community-based education programs (like ANEER) ²⁸ must be aggressively scaled up in rural areas to overcome geographical obstacles. These platforms should serve as robust conduits for addressing the high rates of maternal mortality and child stunting by delivering long-term, comprehensive health, hygiene, and nutrition education.⁹

4.     Promoting Cognitive Engagement: Public service campaigns are needed to fundamentally redefine parental perceptions of early childhood development. These campaigns should educate parents that they are, in fact, their child’s first educators, focusing on the cognitive value of simple, existing nurturing practices (e.g., playing, talking) to promote early stimulation without undermining their essential nurturing roles or triggering cultural fears of "spoiling" the child.²⁶

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