Health Seeking Behavior Among Pregnant Women in Rural Haiti

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to further knowledge of health care seeking behavior among pregnant women in rural Haiti. Eighty-two pregnant women were interviewed to assess care seeking behaviors during pregnancy, satisfaction with services, reliance on social networks, and management of pregnancy-related illness. Twenty-five percent reported not seeking care in the formal health sector for a pregnancy-related illness; 32% delayed seeking care. Women relied primarily on their husbands and mothers for health care advice during pregnancy and times of illness, and coped with illness by lying down. Strategies for improving awareness and health care access are discussed.

The authors thank the participants of this study for sharing their experiences. In addition we give thanks to Marie Gilberth Mortel for conducting the interviews and to Melanie Theodore for translating the responses from Haitian Creole into English.

Notes

∗Total exceeds 100% as some participants named more than one main source of income.

∗Responses were missing from 4 participants. The percent of the subtotal was calculated with the 14 participants providing valid responses.

Move san or bad blood is an illness commonly reported by rural Haitian women. Believed to be caused by emotional distress, move san causes blood to rise up to a woman's head. Red blemishes or rashes appear on the body; other symptoms can include back pains, headaches, dizziness, and diarrhea, among others. Move san, if untreated or inadequately treated, can lead to problems breastfeeding the newborn infant, as the bad blood mixes with breastmilk and spoils it, or even lead to maternal death. See Farmer (1988).