Traditional maternal health care practices and antenatal and postnatal care in Mwingi central sub-county, Kitui county

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to establish the role of traditional maternal health care practices and antenatal and postnatal care in Mwingi Central Sub-County, Kitui County. The following objectives guided the study; to examine the effects of traditional medical practices on antenatal and postnatal care and to investigate the influence of traditional beliefs on food and nutrition on antenatal and postnatal care in Mwingi Central Sub-County. The study used descriptive survey research design. The target population comprised of expectant, lactating mothers and those with children below five years of age, fathers caring for their children below five years of age, traditional and conventional health care givers. Mixed method was used for data collection where questionnaires and interview guides were used as the research instruments. From the five wards, the researcher used 30% of these wards and randomly selected two wards to carry out the study (Mwingi Central and Kivou) wards. Through Census method, all the public health care institutions in the two wards were selected for the study due to their uniqueness. Conveniently, twenty conventional health care workers, 258 traditional medical practitioners and 78 members of the general public. They responded to questionnaires through face to face techniques done by the trained researchers. Interviews were also done with the traditional health care givers and the parents until saturated information was collected. The study found out that, 142(39.4%) of the respondents agreed that there are antenatal clinic visit barriers in their community. Further, 239 (66.4%) agreed that expectant women visit conventional health centers for their general treatment while 129 (35.8%) of the respondents agreed that expectant women visit traditional medical practitioners for their general health treatment. Majority of the respondents 298 (82.8%) agreed that there are prohibited foods for pregnant women in their community. The study concluded that there are antenatal clinic visit barriers in their community. Expectant women visit both conventional health centers and traditional medical practitioners for their general treatment. There are also prohibited foods for pregnant and lactating women in their community The study recommends that the government’s health policy should clearly stipulate the roles played by the various health practitioners in the Sub-County. It also recommended that the government should organize for continuous trainings for the health care practitioners both traditional and conventional especially in the rural areas. The study recommends further that, traditional birth attendants be provided with delivery kits to help women who deliver in the rural areas.