Traditional birth attendants in Mexico: Advantages and inadequacies of care for normal deliveries

Camey, Xochitl Castañeda; Barrios, Cecilia García; Guerrero, Xóchitl Romero; Núñez-Urquiza, Rosa María; González, Dolores; Glass, Ana Langer

doi:10.1016/0277-9536(95)00362-2

Cited by 35 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…12 In Ghana, the ministry of health enlisted the assistance of traditional midwives to promote births as a medical event that should not be managed by specialists alone. In this arrangement, TBAs are allowed to handle “routine” birth while complicated pregnancies are referred to the district hospital or local clinics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception and utilization of traditional birth attendants by pregnant women attending primary health care clinics in a rural Local Government Area in Ogun State, Nigeria

Ebuehi¹,

Akintujoye²

2012

IJWH

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BackgroundIn developing countries, most childbirth occurs at home and is not assisted by skilled attendants. This situation increases the risk of death for both mother and child and has severe maternal and neonatal health complications. The purpose of this study was to explore pregnant women’s perceptions and utilization of traditional birth attendant (TBA) services in a rural Local Government Area (LGA) in Ogun State, southwest Nigeria.MethodsA quantitative design was used to obtain information using a structured questionnaire from 250 pregnant women attending four randomly selected primary health care clinics in the LGA. Data were analyzed using Epi Info (v 3.5.1) statistical software.ResultsAlmost half (48.8%) of the respondents were in the age group 26–35 years, with a mean age of 29.4 ± 7.33 years. About two-thirds (65.6%) of the respondents had been pregnant 2–4 times before. TBA functions, as identified by respondents, were: “taking normal delivery” (56.7%), “providing antenatal services” (16.5%), “performing caesarean section” (13.0%), “providing family planning services” (8.2%), and “performing gynaecological surgeries” (5.6%). About 6/10 (61.0%) respondents believed that TBAs have adequate knowledge and skills to care for them, however, approximately 7/10 (69.7%) respondents acknowledged that complications could arise from TBA care. Services obtained from TBAs were: routine antenatal care (81.1%), normal delivery (36.1%), “special maternal bath to ward off evil spirits” (1.9%), “concoctions for mothers to drink to make baby strong” (15.1%), and family planning services (1.9%). Reasons for using TBA services were: “TBA services are cheaper” (50.9%), “TBA services are more culturally acceptable in my environment” (34.0%), “TBA services are closer to my house than hospital services” (13.2%), “TBAs provide more compassionate care than orthodox health workers” (43.4%), and “TBA service is the only maternity service that I know” (1.9%). Approximately 8/10 (79.2%) of the users (past or current) opined that TBA services are effective but could be improved with some form of training (78.3%). More than three-quarters (77.1%) opposed the banning of TBA services. Almost 7/10 (74.8%) users were satisfied with TBA services.ConclusionStudy findings revealed a positive perception and use of TBA services by the respondents. This underlines the necessity for TBAs’ knowledge and skills to be improved within permissible standards through sustained partnership between TBAs and health systems. It is hoped that such partnership will foster a healthy collaboration between providers of orthodox and traditional maternity services that will translate into improved maternal and neonatal health outcomes in relevant settings.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception and utilization of traditional birth attendants by pregnant women attending primary health care clinics in a rural Local Government Area in Ogun State, Nigeria

Ebuehi¹,

Akintujoye²

2012

IJWH

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“…Patients are expected to display deferential respect to health staff and to act as quiet, passive recipients of their advice (Sermsri 1988:9). The issues of the social distance between women patients and health staff have been noted for numerous cultures, including western settings (see Carney et al 1996;Cosminsky 1976;Sesia 1996).…”

Section: Relations Of Power Enacted In Hospital Encountersmentioning

confidence: 98%

Birth and the Postpartum in Northeast Thailand: Contesting Modernity and Tradition

Whittaker

1999

Medical Anthropology

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“…They also frequently point to the central role of equilibrium—bodily and social—in maintaining people’s well-being. Fewer studies, however, analyze the connection between women’s reproductive health and the broader notions of bodily equilibrium [5,8,9]. This article contributes to this discussion by providing an analysis of two reproductive health issues that reflect Nahua indigenous women’s concerns with bodily equilibrium and its connection to the local sociopolitical context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Organ displacement is an illness category that is found in both present and past cultures of Mexico [5,10,11], the Americas [12,13], and other regions of the world [14,15]. In this illness category, specific organs or parts of the body shift from their original position and cause health problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of two indigenous reproductive health illnesses in a Nahua community in Veracruz, Mexico

Smith‐Oka

2012

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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BackgroundThis article describes the local concepts indigenous Nahua women hold regarding their reproduction. Specifically it provides a description of two indigenous illnesses—isihuayo and necaxantle, it discusses their etiology, symptoms, and treatments, and it analyzes them within the local ethnomedical framework and sociopolitical context. A perception of female vulnerability is shown to be an underlying shaper of women’s experiences of these illnesses.MethodsThis research took place in a small Nahua village in Mexico. Qualitative data on local perceptions of these illnesses were collected by a combination of participant observation and interviews. Ethnobotanical data was obtained through interviews, and medicinal plants were collected in home gardens, fields, stream banks, and forested areas. The total study population consisted of traditional birth attendants (N = 5), clinicians (N = 8), and laywomen (N = 48).ResultsResults showed that 20% of the village women had suffered from one or both of these illnesses. The article includes a detailed description of the etiology, symptoms, and treatments of these illnesses. Data shows that they were caused by mechanical, physical, and social factors related to a woman’s weakness and/or lack of support. Traditional birth attendants often treated women’s illnesses. Five medicinal plants were salient in the treatment of these illnesses: Ocimum basilicum L., Mentzelia aspera L., Pedilanthus tithymaloides (L.) Poit., and Piper umbellatum L. were used for isihuayo, while Solanum wendlandii Hook f. was used for necaxantle.ConclusionsThe research on these two ethnomedical conditions is a useful case study to understanding how indigenous women experience reproductive health. Reproductive health is not simply about clinically-based medicine but is also about how biomedicine intersects with the local bodily concepts. By describing and analyzing indigenous women’s ill health, one can focus upon the combination of causes—which extend beyond the physical body and into the larger structure that the women exist in.

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Traditional birth attendants in Mexico: Advantages and inadequacies of care for normal deliveries

Cited by 35 publications

References 4 publications

Perception and utilization of traditional birth attendants by pregnant women attending primary health care clinics in a rural Local Government Area in Ogun State, Nigeria

Perception and utilization of traditional birth attendants by pregnant women attending primary health care clinics in a rural Local Government Area in Ogun State, Nigeria

Birth and the Postpartum in Northeast Thailand: Contesting Modernity and Tradition

An analysis of two indigenous reproductive health illnesses in a Nahua community in Veracruz, Mexico

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