Indigenous Knowledge on Birthing Practices and the Use of Uterotonic Medicinal Plants to Prevent and Treat Postpartum Haemorrhage: A Mixed Methods Approach

There is a dearth of publications on women’s use of TMPs during the perinatal period. (Nergard et al., 2015). It is recommended that “plants used by pregnant women need to be better known in order to ensure that pregnant women receive effective treatment, to identify potentially unsafe use, and also to preserve valuable information about medicinal plants for women’s reproductive health for the future” (Nergard et al., 2015). Tripathi, Stanton and Anderson (2013:16) conclude that “[f]urther research is needed on the uterotonic efficacy of traditional preparations and on interventions to address the use [of TMPs] during labour”. Gruber and O’Brien (2011:218) support the statement and argue that the search for a “novel cyclotide-producing plant…may eventually lead to the development of novel uterotonic …drugs”. Pharmacological evidence of TMPs may promote the safe use of TMPs by IKHs during birth and the postpartum period. Kaingu, Oduma and Kanui (2011:495) emphasized that TBAs still have a crucial role to play in society, by assisting labouring women in rural communities and their “knowledge on medicinal plants is equally important and should be preserved for posterity”