Maternal health care practices among indigenous people of Nepal : a case study of the Raute community

Abstract

This thesis entitled “MATERNAL HEALTH CARE PRACTICE AMONG INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF NEPAL: Case Study of The Raute Community” tends to highlight on the use of traditional knowledge by the Raute people during the three stages of maternal period. The Rautes are regarded as one of the endangered Nomadic indigenous group. For the study, a locality named Satokhani and Pamka of Surkhet distric in Bheri Zone of Nepal, in which the Raute group had recently been migrated from Dadeldhura district. Maternal health care encompasses the health of a woman during three stages of maternity. This study recount experiences around pregnancy, childbirth and after childbirth of the Raute mother and tends to draw attention towards some of the complications and problems faced by the Raute mothers. This study shows that complications like, miscalculation of due date, problem in delivering baby, even the death of baby and different types of illness after the delivery have been facing by the Raute women. The study has been conducted in order to identify the reason behind the Raute women not getting modern health facility. Two different reasons can be draw in this study. The first and for most reason of devoid of modern maternal health is the rejection of Raute people to utilize any kind of things which will connect them with outer world. The next reason can be the inability of Government of Nepal to deliver such services that ILO convention and Un Declaration has addressed.