Exploring indigenous health care practitioners' strategies in managing women with infertility in the Ngaka Modiri Molema Health District

Abstract

Infertility is a major reproductive problem in society which has been overlooked despite the negative effect on women. Inevitably it is the woman who bears the blame of for infertility and consequently, they are often the ones who seek medical help. It is further reported that a high number of the African community still consult with Indigenous practitioners for various ailments including infertility. Thus, despite the availability of modern infertility treatments, it is often the Indigenous practitioner who is consulted for help. Further, amongst most communities' infertility is perceived as a result of witchcraft or a curse. The researcher's interest was to explore strategies used by various Indigenous practitioners to manage infertility. To achieve that, a qualitative-exploratory-descriptive and contextual research design was used were Indigenous Health Care Practitioners (IHCPs) in Ngaka Modiri Molema health district were purposively selected for the reason that they specialise in infertility management. This was done to acquire in-depth information on how IHCPs manage issues of infertility. In addition to the practitioners, health care users who have consulted with indigenous health care practitioners due to infertility issues were included. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews from both the practitioners and users. The data was analysed using Tech's steps of data analysis. The results revealed that Indigenous Health Care Practitioners have specific strategies they employ to treat infertility, these include the use of massaging techniques and prescription of plant-medicine. Adding to massaging and medication, these strategies also incorporates cleansing rituals and counselling which ensures holistic treatment of health care user. It can therefore be concluded that Indigenous Health Care Practitioners are capable of managing infertility as confirmed by those who were considered infertile and now have children. Hence, the researcher recommended the promulgation of public health policies that promote co-existence between indigenous and conventional health care systems.