International journal of health education
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This study investigates the relationship between the health beliefs of mothers in a Botswana village and their utilization of available maternal and child health resources, specifically immunizations, antenatal care, and clinic delivery. The two-pronged methodology includes (1) a household survey of 620 mothers of children under the age of five and (2) a series of intensive but informal, loosely structured interviews with 19 village women. Results show that a majority of the children had received one immunization but that few had ever had more. ⋯ They were responding to their perception of the clinic as a place that cures, rather than prevents, illness. This was consistent with the finding that few used the clinic delivery service: most women saw no reason to seek professional help in the absence of perceived problems. The authors point out implications of this study for community-centred, in contrast to disease-centred, health education.
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A pilot survey was recently undertaken among 301 married women below 50 years of age and having been pregnant at least once. These women lived in a rural environment: the first group in a peri-urban area which is developing rapidly, and the second in a traditional rural area. The survey elicited information on various aspects of the 1,476 pregnancies reported by the women in the sample, including infant mortality, complications in pregnancy, abortions, as well as the number of medical consultations. ⋯ It is evident that health care is equated with curative treatment and that the positive dimensions of prevention and health maintenance are not properly perceived. The fact that in the more conservative areas 98.1% of births take place at home shows the existence of a traditional health system which is not sufficiently taken into account by health planners. In fact, local birth attendants and midwives represent for the health services untapped manpower which, if adequately trained, could help to eliminate the risks currently associated with home births.