Indigenous practices of pregnant women in the greater Tubatse municipality at Dilokng hospital of the Limpopo province

2^nd International Conference and Exhibition on Traditional & Alternative Medicine

August 25-26, 2014 DoubleTree by Hilton Beijing, China

Malema RN

Accepted Abstracts: Altern Integ Med

Abstract :

Indigenous Practices (IPs) are experiences generated by people living in a specific region belonging to a specific cultured group. IPs are shaped by cultural traits that are passed from one generation to the next. The practices are rooted and embedded in this society and therefore they become part of the peoples life style. Believe system play a major role in the health-care seeking behaviour of individuals because they are informed by the IPs that prevails in their environment. IPs are stored in peoples memories and are expressed in songs, dances, believes, rituals, cultural values, myths and curing of diseases by herbs. IPs is still mostly applied by pregnant women in Turkey and Africa. A qualitative study applying the exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was conducted at the antenatal health clinic and the maternity ward in Dilokong Hospital of the Greater Tubatse municipality, Limpopo province. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe IPs during pregnancy and delivery and to recommend guiding principles for health care professionals on the strategies that could be used to care for these women. Data were collected by conducting one-to-one interviews using a semi-structured interview guide and data saturation was reached after interviewing 15 women. Trustworthiness was ensured by prolonged engagement and the use of an independent coder who has specialized in qualitative research. Data were analysed using Techs open coding approach. Four themes emerged namely: Indigenous practices based on ancestral knowledge, indigenous practices based on spiritual Diviners versus church principles, restricted practices versus instructions followed during pregnancy and delivery and indigenous practices during pregnancy and delivery. It is recommended that the National IPs strategy be developed to provide a framework and platform to support and scale up grass roots IPs practices in the health care system with regard to midwifery practice.

Biography :

Malema RN is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing Science. He obtained a PhD at the University of Limpopo, Turfloop Campus in 2008. He is presently teaching Community Health Nursing Science and Research at undergraduate and postgraduate level. He is also supervising undergraduate and postgraduate research projects. He has published 12 articles in accredited journals and 3 in non-accredited publications. He has been a member of the School of Health Sciences Senior Degrees Committee for five years. He supervised 7 Masters Students and served as an external examiner for 11 Masters Dissertations from different Universities in South Africa.