Influence of cultural and traditional beliefs on maternal and child health practices in rural and urban communities in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: The influence of cultural and traditional beliefs on key maternal and child health practices in the developing nations cannot be overemphasized. This study was carried out to determine the influence of cultural and traditional beliefs on key maternal and child health practices among rural and urban mothers in Cross River State. Materials and Methods: The study design was a comparative analytical cross-sectional study among mothers with under-five children in rural and urban households in Cross River State and the study populations comprised mothers of under-five children and traditional birth attendants in Cross River State. Sampling technique used to select respondents in the rural and urban sites was multistage sampling method and the sample size was determined using standard method of comparing two independent groups. For focus group discussion (FGD), the purposive sampling method was employed in both study sites. The study instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire and data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 21.0. Results: Statistical analysis showed that the age of mother, husband, and marriage of women from the rural communities were significantly higher (P > 0.05) than that of women from the urban communities. Knowledge of the cultural beliefs of their people concerning maternal and child health is significantly higher in the rural communities than in the urban communities (P < 0.0001). Similarly, there was significant difference in the cultural dispositions of the rural and urban communities to maternal and child health practices (P < 0.05). The results of this study suggest that traditional beliefs influence maternal and child health-care practices in Cross River State, Nigeria. Conclusions: It is therefore concluded that cultural and traditional influences on maternal and child health practices are predominant in rural settings, with positive or indifferent cultural disposition to recommended practice being commonly associated with such practice. Maternal health education as well as education and engagement of traditional leaders are highly recommended. This should be focused at corrective reorientation toward the preference of recommended best practices that they currently do not support while sustaining the effort at encouraging other best practices.