Kenyan Postpartum Practices
Their Positive and Negative Effects
by Jannekah Guya, Charis midwifery student
Martin and Jannekah Guya with their children
and Uncle Baba
walking through a Luo village in Kenya
Kenyan cultures, just as most other ancient cultures around the world, revere a
new mother and baby’s postpartum experience with great honor, which their
beliefs and practices serve to protect. Kenya is home to 42 completely
separate and unique tribes. Each tribe has its own language, special
foods, and cultural practices and beliefs. While each tribe has their own
set of beliefs, foods, and practices surrounding a woman’s postpartum period,
the major similarity all tribes share is their great respect for this time and a
community responsibility to care for and support the new mother and baby.
For example, historically in the Meru tribe, for several days following the
birth, at least until the stump of the umbilical cord fell off, the Mpokezi
(midwife) or “the one who receives,” remained with the new mother and infant day
and night, bathing both mother and baby and providing food for the mother.
She also managed the household, making sure that firewood and water were
collected and meals prepared. The new mother’s mother-in-law, mother,
sister or female cousin would then take over the care of the household duties
for sometimes as long as 3 months.
The Luo tribe primarily resides in Kenya’s western province, where it is
estimated that 71 percent of women are still reluctant to give birth in health
facilities and choose to have their babies with Traditional Birth Attendants
instead. The Luo people traditionally view the postpartum period as a time
of weakness and vulnerability for the new mother and her baby. The new
mother is supposed to be given good food and exempted from domestic work to
enable her to recover strength and blood lost during delivery. Therefore
husbands, mothers-in-law, and co-wives (in families that are polygamous) are
expected to assist with household chores, such as shopping, cooking, collecting
firewood and water for cooking, bathing, and washing, etc. Some families
with sufficient financial resources, especially those who live in more urban
settings away from their extended families, may even hire domestic help.
At the very least, families who live outside of their ancestral villages will
bring a young relative such as a cousin or a niece from the village to stay with
them in their home, to care for the mother and baby, and to do all the household
chores for several months, or maybe even permanently.
Approximately two weeks after delivery, visitors such as family, friends, church
members, and neighbors are allowed to welcome the newborn and to congratulate
and thank the woman for “bringing the baby.” Visitors generally bring
gifts, such as clothing for the new baby and food for the family. This is
considered a time of celebration and considerable social support, even in
communities where poverty is widespread.
Furthermore, all tribes observe a time of seclusion for both the mother’s and
the baby’s protection. These periods last anywhere from 4 days to a full 3
months. In some tribes the mother and newborn stay in their own structure,
separate from the family’s main living area and the mother has no contact with
her husband during this time. Female family members come to cook and care
for her until her seclusion period is over.
Sadly, like most cultures around the world, Kenyans from all tribes are letting
go and losing sight of their roots and the ancient practices that once provided
such beautiful protection and nurturing of new mothers and babies. With
many Kenyans migrating from their rural homelands into the cities in hope of a
better life, they are encountering an entirely new urban culture, plagued with
westernization at its worst. While village life is very community oriented
and everyone knows they must work together and help one another to survive, in
the cities everyone is on their own and are competing with each other for
survival. The motto is survival of the fittest. Women find
themselves far away from their families and even their tribal people groups, and
like most women in the western world, are left abandoned and alone during their
postpartum period.
With the westernization of Kenyan cultures also comes the “modern” stigma
against traditional midwifery in Kenya and it is perceived to be unsafe and
uncivilized; something only the least educated, poorest citizens would foolishly
involve themselves in. The tradition of birth attendants and midwifery
that has stood for centuries is labeled barbaric, while the modern, medical,
hospitalized childbirth model is deemed civilized. Unfortunately, most
women who deliver in hospitals do not receive any postpartum care whatsoever.
What’s worse, because of the confusion that has been caused by the cultural
collisions and deterioration, many believe a woman’s postpartum period is over
the moment she leaves the hospital after the standard 24-hour stay. This
mentality may also be born of necessity, as most women in urban settings must
hold full time jobs to support their families and cannot afford a lengthy
postpartum period or maternity leave. Most urban poor Kenyan women must
return to work immediately after giving birth. Women in this situation
also do not get the nutritious food they need to recover or to nurse their
babies, and they have no reprieve from their domestic duties. Because of
their financial status they cannot afford to bring a family member from the
village to help and can certainly not afford to hire help.
As a midwife in Kenya, I believe a very important part of my ministry will be to
help restore the postpartum care and protection of women and babies that is
being lost. It will be important to sensitize both the families and other
healthcare providers about the importance of postpartum care for mothers and
babies. Postpartum care must once again be viewed as holistic in
addressing not only the physical needs of the mother and newborn, but also the
emotional and spiritual needs of the postpartum woman. Hopefully people
will begin to understand and experience the truth that when a mother feels
valued, loved, nurtured and supported she will be more healthy and happy, which
will result in a healthier happier baby, a healthier happier family, and a
healthier happier society as a whole. Maybe then they will come to view
their forsaken cultural values and beliefs surrounding postpartum care not
as uncivilized and outdated, but as invaluable age-old practices that have been
proven to work and benefit families and communities for thousands of years.
1. Thomas, Lynn M., Polictics of the Womb: Women,
Reproduction, and the State in Kenya, London, England: University of California
Press, Ltd., 2003, pp 63-65.
2. Mwangi, Annie and Charlotte Warren, Taking Critical Services to the Home:
Scaling-up Home-based Maternal and Postnatal Care, including Family Planning,
through Community Midwifery in Frontiers in Reproductive Health, Population
Council, USAID, July 2008, p 2.
3. Family Care International, Care-Seeking During Pregnancy, Delivery, and the
Postpartum Period: A Study in Homabay and Migori Districts, Kenya, September
2003, pp 49 & 50.
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