Complementary and Alternative Medicinal Use amongst Antenatal in a Rural Tertiary Care Hospital of Haryana

Background - WHO defines ‘Traditional medicine’ as the sum total of the knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health, as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illnesses. Aims and Objective - To study Complementary and alternative medicinal use in addition to allopathic medicine amongst pregnant women visiting antenatal clinics in a rural tertiary care hospital of Haryana. Material and Method – Antenatal women attending the Outpatient Department in a tertiary care hospital situated in a rural area in Haryana. Study Design – A prospective , cross sectional study Result – A total of 128 pregnant women participated in the study. Majority of these i.e 83% reported use of CAM during pregnancy. However pregnant women came forward with history of CAM use only after great persuasion. Conclusion –CAM is commonly used by majority of pregnant women in antenatal period. Rural women with low sociodemographic status with lesser education , home maker and unbooked pregnancy are vulnerable group for the CAM use. Moreover extremely low level of communication between CAM user and health care provider is worrisome and demands that physician should inquire their patients about the use of CAM.