Indigenous family planning practices in Capricorn district of Limpopo province, South Africa

Abstract

Traditional practices especially those involving family planning depend to a large extent on the area and or community where health professionals provide the services. Health professionals working in urban clinics often see fewer individuals who actively use traditional approaches to family planning. On the other hand health professionals in rural settings are more likely to provide services to women who frequently use traditional means to regulate their fertility. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research method was used to describe Indigenous Knowledge (IK) with regard family planning. Data were collected through in-depth unstructured interviews with five traditional healers in three villages in Capricorn District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. A focus group interview was held with 38 professional nurses undergoing Primary Health Care (PHC) diploma training in one nursing school in Limpopo Province. The sample for both participants was selected purposefully. Tech’s method was used to analyse the data and an independent coder confirmed the themes that emerged. Establishing criteria for trustworthiness were observed. Ethical standards as set by Democratic Nurses Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) were adhered to. Three themes and categories emerged from the data analysis namely, commencement of family planning methods, different family planning methods in IK and bio-medicine. It was concluded that most of the community members still use IK family planning and it is of importance for health workers to address such issues when attending to clients seeking family planning services. It was recommended that nurses working in the medical institutions need to reconcile IKS and bio-medical family planning in health care services.