A Review of Gender and Patriarchy as Proximate Determinants in Maternal Health Seeking Behaviour

Abstract

Universally, maternal healthcare system is an important segment of medical system in any society; this is as a result of the importance of mothers in the overall sustenance of human society. Despite the significance of maternal health care, however, there is an increasing gap between the developed countries and the developing countries in terms of levels of morbidity and mortality and mothers’ survival at prenatal, delivery and postnatal periods. Across the globe, millions of women suffer from poor reproductive health and serious pregnancy related illnesses and disability and yearly the rate at which women die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth is alarming. Most of the deaths occur in Asia, but the risk of dying is highest in African countries. Patriarchal practices can be viewed as one of the leading reasons for the poor maternal health situation in Nigeria. Many have observed that traditional African culture has not been fair to women. Gender as entrenched in Culturaldictates, shapes behaviours; one’s environment affects her reproductive attitudes, perceptions and motivations. The use and non-use of health services are determined by one’s socio-cultural environment, which, in most cases, is shaped by its patriarchal structure.This paper attempts a review of existing literatureon gender and patriarchy as proximate determinants on maternal health-seeking behaviour especially in Nigeria and Sub-Sahara Africa at large with the aim of closing the gap in knowledge and understanding of maternal health.As a means of methodology, related existing literatures were sourced to facilitate this review. The review shows that gender and patriarchy like the two sides of a coin, though different but inseparable to a large extent, determines the actions and inactions of women of child bearing age as regards their health seeking. Conclusively, the paper suggests that policy makers and maternal health advocates should embark on policies and advocacies that will enhance the new normal of discouraging the harmful traditional gender and patriarchal practices that could hinder healthy maternal health seeking.