“Do not use herbs!”: Plants and Pills in Maternal Health Care in Ghana

• In Event: STS Africa: Biomedicine

Abstract

By the end of the 20th century, women living in African countries had a 1 in 15 lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy. Many resided in rural areas where state of the art maternity wards in hospitals were not available, or in urban settings where hospitals were overpriced and overextended. So, many women turned to neighbors, family, and healers to help them through pregnancy and labor. This talk considers efforts in the West African country of Ghana to improve maternal care through a network of trained “Traditional Birth Attendants,” or TBAs. Interviews with policy makers and healers reflecting on their involvement in TBA programs from the 1970s as well as archival documents, training manuals, and observations from field research in the Akuapem Mountains, show how Ghanaians hoped to implement a program widely touted through the World Health Organization as critical to stopping maternal mortality. In particular, the talk will analyze the use of both pharmaceuticals like Syntocinon (synthetic oxycotin) and plants like Nfofo leaves (Aspilia africana) in peri-natal care. Overtime, Ghanaian policymakers encouraged TBAs and healers to avoid using herbs to stop hemorrhaging and other complications. By the early 2000s, government went so far as to ban TBAs, and urged all women to deliver with a skilled attendant such as a nurse midwife or obstetrician.

Author

• Abena Osseo-Asare