Medicinal Plants Used by Nursing Mothers for the Treatment of Children Diseases (Diarrhea and Malaria) in Bichi Northern Nigeria

Medicinal plants as means of complementary and alternative medical practices. This study examines the use of plant materials as a means of complementary and alternative medicine in treating children's diseases (Diarrhea and Malaria) by nursing mothers in Bichi LGA. Objective: To evaluate the use of plant materials by nursing mothers in treating diarrheal and Malaria disease in Bichi LGA, to assess the percentage of nursing mothers that prefer using traditional medicine alone and those that use traditional medicine with orthodox paediatric drugs, to determine common plants in use and their sources used in the treatment of paediatric condition like malaria and diarrhea. Methods: Three research questions were formulated and data was collected using both focused group discussion and structured questionnaires. Based on the analysis of the data, the following findings were discovered. Results: Ninety-eight (98%) of Bichi’s nursing mothers know Medicinal Plants. 74% of which utilize medicinal plants and 47% use medicinal plants exclusively, while 26% use it in addition to orthodox medication. The primary causes of this high medicinal plant use among these women were: socioeconomic status (45%) of Nursing mothers were unemployed 30% of them lack a formal education) the beliefs that medicinal plants were more effective than orthodox medicine and the availability or easy accessibility of these plants. Conclusion: The sources of the plants used by these women were 100% natural and organic from their farmland