Charles Owuor Olungah

Culture and Reproductive Health: the Politics of Pregnancy and Childbirth Among the Luo of Western Kenya Charles Owuor Olungah

Reproductive health and more so pregnancy and childbirth are clouded in culture and related practices. Healthcare utilization patterns are therefore, cultural in nature. In this study, pregnancy was put under a cultural microscope and the arena in which it is experienced examined. The study reveals the decision making pattern in the Luo community and concludes that women are constrained in their decision making and are subjects of patriarchal control spearheaded by the husbands and mothers-in-law. What is considered their inability to attend health care facilities is seen as a form of resistance to medical control and the urge to be in charge of their lives. The study recommends that different approaches that take into account the women's lived experiences are needed if safe motherhood is to be realised.