Beliefs and practices of Sotho antenatal women

Abstract

The study investigated the beliefs and practices of Sotho antenatal women. The aim was to describe the beliefs and practices of Sotho antenatal women in order to contribute to the identification of guidelines for a teaching programme for both midwives and traditional birth attendants.

A non-experimental, qualitative research approach, which was exploratory-descriptive and contextual in nature, guided the researcher to explore and describe the beliefs and practices of Sotho antenatal women.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the Sotho antenatal women as well as traditional birth attendants.

Six themes emerged from the study through the interviews:

 the nature of pregnancy  prescriptive practices  restrictive practices  sexual activity  the practice of clinic attendants  the practice of attending traditional birth attendants