Traditional medical systems in low income countries remain the first line service of choice, particularly for rural communities. Although the role of traditional birth attendants (TBAs) is recognised in many primary health care systems in low income countries, other types of traditional practitioners have had less traction. We explored the role played by traditional healers in northern Ghana in managing pregnancy-related complications and examined their relevance to current initiatives to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. A grounded theory qualitative approach was employed. Twenty focus group discussions were conducted with TBAs and 19 in-depth interviews with traditional healers with expertise in managing obstetric complications. Traditional healers are extensively consulted to manage obstetric complications within their communities. Their clientele includes families who for either reasons of access or traditional beliefs, will not use modern health care providers, or those who shop across multiple health systems. The traditional practitioners claim expertise in a range of complications that are related to witchcraft and other culturally defined syndromes; conditions for which modern health care providers are believed to lack expertise. Most healers expressed a willingness to work with the formal health services because they had unique knowledge, skills and the trust of the community. However this would require a stronger acknowledgement and integration within safe motherhood programs.
Matched MeSH terms: Maternal Health Services/manpower*
Since Independence, gained in 1957, major changes have occurred in the rural areas of Malaysia not least amongst which has been the provision of maternal and child care services to hitherto neglected areas. In the first part of this paper, the demographic and disease patterns are described. The second part outlines the general development efforts and describes in greater detail the rural health services that have been organized in Malaysia. In the concluding section, changes in mortality and morbidity are examined.
Matched MeSH terms: Maternal Health Services/manpower*
This study was undertaken to explore the roles played by bidan kampungs and understand their contribution to rural Malay women during pregnancy and childbirth hundred sixteen pregnant women, 13 Western midwives, and 12 bidan kampungs were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling. Data were collected from focus groups, in-depth interviews, field notes, and observations. The findings indicated that although the women were happy to have Western maternity care, they valued the social and spiritual support received from bidan kampungs during pregnancy and postnatal care. Western care was considered useful for "modern" illnesses. The traditional maternity care that women received included pantang or ritual prohibitions that helped them through pregnancy and helped them achieve better postnatal recovery. The study indicates that there is a need to combine Western and traditional care for the benefit of the pregnant women and their infants' health.
Matched MeSH terms: Maternal Health Services/manpower*