Negotiating Western Medicine and Ghanaian Sociocultural Practices During Pregnancy and Early Mothering

Western medical principles that inform pregnancy and early mothering often tend to contradict sociocultural, traditional Ghanaian beliefs and practices. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 42 early mothers, this study examines how Ghanaian mothers experience Western medical discourses and Ghanaian sociocultural beliefs and practices associated with pregnancy and infant care and how they navigate conflicting demands. The study shows that the demands from various social expectations that surround motherhood stem largely from medicine and sociocultural beliefs. Personal philosophies, health beliefs, previous motherhood experiences, and family pressures shaped the line of action that women selected when they found themselves at the intersection of multiple conflicting demands from both the Ghanaian sociocultural practices and Western medicine.