ISSN 2348-1218 (print) International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Innovations ISSN 2348-1226 (online) Vol. 9, Issue 3, pp: (68-74), Month: July - September 2021, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Theoretical Analysis of Maternal Health Seeking Behaviour in a Typical African Rural Community Ayoola Adekunle Dada Department of General Studies, School of Business Studies, Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. E-mail Address: dadaayoola@yahoo.com
Abstract: Universally, maternal healthcare system is an important segment of medical system in any society; this is as a result of the importance of mothers in the overall sustenance of human society. Despite the significance of maternal health care, however, there is an increasing gap between the developed countries and the developing countries in terms of levels of morbidity and mortality and mothers’ survival at prenatal, delivery and postnatal periods. Across the globe, millions of women suffer from poor reproductive health and serious pregnancy related illnesses and disability and yearly the rate at which women die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth is alarming. Most of the deaths occur in Asia, but the risk of dying is highest in African countries. Patriarchal practices can be viewed as one of the leading reasons for the poor maternal health situation in Nigeria. Many have observed that traditional African culture has not been fair to women. Gender as entrenched in Cultural dictates, shapes behaviours; one’s environment affects her reproductive attitudes, perceptions and motivations. The use and non-use of health services are determined by one’s socio-cultural environment, which, in most cases, is shaped by its patriarchal structure. This paper attempts a theoretical analysis to explain maternal health-seeking behaviour in typical African rural community with the aim of closing the gap in knowledge and understanding of maternal health. As a means of methodology, related existing literatures were sourced to facilitate this review. The review shows that gender and patriarchy like the two sides of a coin, though different but inseparable to a large extent, determines the actions and inactions of women of child bearing age as regards their health seeking. Conclusively, the paper suggests that policy makers and maternal health advocates should embark on policies and advocacies that will enhance the new normal of discouraging the harmful traditional gender and patriarchal practices that could hinder healthy maternal health seeking. Keywords: Behavioural Change, Rational Choice, Maternal-Health.
I. INTRODUCTION This paper involves some theoretical perspectives to examine maternal health behaviour and activities that shape such behaviour in order to understand the factors affecting access to and use of maternal health facilities. Based on this, the convergence of Model of Behavioural Change in Public Health, Rational Choice Theory and Location Theory presents an holistic analysis of access to and use of maternal health facilities.
II. MODEL OF BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH. The pattern of utilization of maternal health facilities is found to involve the interplay of several factors. According to Jegede (1998), patients are in dilemma of therapeutic choice because many factors account for their action and this is governed by health belief of the people. The health seeking behaviour has been explored from three perspectives, namely: 1. Those which utilize mainly psychological processes and variables to explain decisions; 2. Those which utilize individual demographic characters and health care delivery systems to explain decision; and 3. Those, which explain decisions as a result of social psychological processes (Igun, 1982).
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