South African women’s use of African traditional medicine during pregnancy: A scoping review

Abstract

In South Africa, about 72% of black South Africans are said to rely on traditional medicine. This contributes to a high prevalence of traditional medicine (TM) used by women during pregnancy, especially in rural areas. This paper explored literature knowledge on the use and reasons of using African traditional medicine in pregnant women who reside in South Africa. This was a scoping review search conducted in October 2021. The search was done with the aid of PubMed, Science Direct, JSTOR and EBSCOHost. This study included only studies on pregnant women’s use of traditional African medicine, conducted in South Africa which were published between 2011 and 2021, written in English. Six studies were found to be relevant to the phenomenon. Lack of research and regular health education on the safety and efficacy of traditional medicine during pregnancy is a major cause of traditional medicine induced pregnancy-related complications in South Africa.