Antenatal care as practised by Yoruba traditional healers/midwives of Nigeria.

TL;DRAbstract

In Nigeria traditional healers/midwives play an important role in obstetrics services. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to study the methods used by Yoruba traditional healers/midwives. Interviews were conducted with 106 traditional healers/midwives. The methods used in the early diagnosis of pregnancy by most of the healers were without scientific basis. Although the healers were aware of the importance of antenatal care, the types of treatment provided during antenatal care could be hazardous to the mother and hazardous to the mother and her fetus. Most of the traditional healers/midwives had fairly accurate ideas regarding the period of normal gestation and a few were able to estimate the expected date of delivery with reasonable accuracy. The healers were aware that antepartum hemorrhage could be a dangerous pregnancy complication, but they were ignorant of its causes and their treatment of antepartum hemorrhage was without scientific basis. Most healers did not know the fu

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