Cultural perceptions and health behaviors related to safe motherhood among village women in Eastern Sudan: Ethnographic study.

BACKGROUND Meeting the health needs of Sudanese women, especially those living in village areas, is imperative and cannot be accomplished without understanding the cultural perceptions and health behaviors related to safe motherhood. Nevertheless, there is little literature exploring these perspectives through qualitative study, as most of the studies performed in Sudan applied quantitative methods and focused on urban areas. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore cultural perceptions and behaviors relevant to safe motherhood among Sudanese village women. DESIGN/METHOD A qualitative method using an ethnographic approach was applied for the study. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with six village women of reproductive age living in a village in Gadarif State, Eastern Sudan. FINDINGS The thematic content analysis revealed socio-economic factors, religious values and local beliefs shaping the village women's perceptions of their behaviors related to motherhood safety. Particular concerns included responses to health problems, preference for birth with traditional birth attendants, female genital mutilation/female genital cutting and a lack of utilizing family planning. CONCLUSIONS An implication arising from this study is that maternal services should develop a collaboration between village midwives and traditional birth attendants. This study further suggests that educational messages must be delivered to family relatives with consideration of the cultural influences highlighted by the village women.