Eric Kinara* and Maurice B Silali

¹Mount Kigali University, Rwanda ²Department of Public Health, Mount Kigali University, Kigali, Rwanda

*Corresponding Author: Eric Kinara, Mount Kigali University, Rwanda.

Received: July 20, 2026; Published: October 22, 2026

Globally, regionally, and locally in Rwanda, traditional/alternative medicine has been used to supplement and complement conventional medicine in maternal and child health and Nutrition services in community households before pregnant females of the reproductive age visit antenatal services at nearest health facility. Despite significant progress made to promote accessibility to traditional medicine to most community households, by the traditional skilled birth attendant services to majority of population health, seeking maternal child health service specifically antenatal services, the information on quality uptake and their accessibility remain limited and undocumented due neoconism in Gasabo Districts, it was this reason that led to determine the prevalence in uptake of traditional medicine supplements and compliments to improve maternal health among pregnant female of reproductive age attending Kibagabaga Hospital Gasabo District specifically to determine their prevalence and lastly evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice on the uptake of traditional medicine during gestation period from the traditional skilled midwifery attendants. The study aimed to promote skilled traditional midwifery as a primary health pillar of appropriate technology utilization in low- income countries, and to examine the uptake of traditional medicine as a complement and supplement to conventional maternal health services, specifically in antenatal care. The study design was a descriptive cross-sectional design using a mixed approach of surveys and interviews. The target population was pregnancy female of reproductive age and skilled traditional attendants visiting Kinabagabaga, sample size determination was Solving’s formula, size of 179 study participants in utilization process. A purposive stratified sampling design was used to recruit participants in the study and census sampling design. Semi-structured questionnaires and an interview/ FGDs guide. Data were managed by SPSS version 21 and analysed by cross-tabulation of descriptive and inferential statistics. Data was presented using figures and tables. The Results opined that the prevalence of traditional medicine uptake among pregnant females of reproductive age was 56 (31%). Participants demonstrated varied levels of KAP awareness regarding traditional medicine uptake via traditional birth attendants, to be significant with P values 0.023 95% CI. Based on the findings, the study may recommend that MOH should recognize traditional medicine uptake by female of reproductive age and traditional birth attendants as key supplementary/complementary of convention medicine and safe motherhood initiatives in maternal child health nutrition.

Keywords: Accessibility; Complements/Supplements; Traditional Birth Attendants; Traditional/Alternative Medicine; Convention Medicine, Inherited/Acquired Traditional Birth Attendant

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Citation

Citation: Eric Kinara and Maurice B Silali. “Prevalence of the Uptake of Traditional Medicine Supplements and Complements to Promote the Mater- nal Health among Pregnant Females of Reproductive age Visiting Kibagabaga Hospital Gasabo District Rwanda". Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 10.10 (2026): 100-108.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2026 Eric Kinara and Maurice B Silali. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.