Rural Health Provisioning : Socio-cultural Factors Influencing Maternal and Child Health Care in Osun State, Nigeria

The slow response of maternal and child health care problems to control strategies in Nigeria suggests that the health sector requires more holistic study. This study focuses on case-specifics of the affected communities and examines the incidence of maternal and child health care from entire cultural domain of the focused communities. The rural communities of Osun state in Nigeria are the object of the study, where the local conception of maternal and child health was examined. Similarly, the local people’s perception of maternal and child health was identified and various attitudes and practices affecting health care provisioning in the rural communities of Osun state were similarly analysed. Relying on ethnographic methods of data collection, the text establishes that certain local attitudes are constraints against equitable access to maternal and child health care facilities. It also establishes that there are some other local practices which promote good health of the rural mothers and their children. Specific findings show that illiteracy and low level of economic activities suffered by mothers were the major causes of maternal and child health care problems in rural communities.

The slow response of maternal and child health care problems to control strategies in Nigeria suggests that the health sector requires more holistic study. This study focuses on case-specifics of the affected communities and examines the incidence of maternal and child health care from entire cultural domain of the focused communities. The rural communities of Osun state in Nigeria are the object of the study, where the local conception of maternal and child health was examined. Similarly, the local people’s perception of maternal and child health was identified and various attitudes and practices affecting health care provisioning in the rural communities of Osun state were similarly analysed. Relying on ethnographic methods of data collection, the text establishes that certain local attitudes are constraints against equitable access to maternal and child health care facilities. It also establishes that there are some other local practices which promote good health of the rural mothers and their children. Specific findings show that illiteracy and low level of economic activities suffered by mothers were the major causes of maternal and child health care problems in rural communities.