Traditional practices, beliefs and uses of medicinal plants in relation to maternal–baby health of Criollo woman in central Argentina

Objectiveto present information on traditional practices and medicinal uses of plants for treating health diseases related to the reproductive cycle of Criollo women living in the hills of the province of Córdoba; and to interpret these uses in the context of this population's folk medicine.Designdata were collected during several field trips to the study area based on the guidelines of a research project that included ethnographic and ethnobotanical aspects of the study area.Settinga rural community of central Argentina.Participantsa total of 62 peasants were interviewed on the basis of a semi-structured system. Repeated open and extensive interviews were also undertaken with seven women who had previously worked as midwives in areas of difficult access.Findingsthis study found that 12 different female diseases and complaints are treated using a total of 48 plant species belonging to 27 botanical families, with 71 different medicinal uses. The traditional beliefs and practices associated with maternal–baby health care in rural areas highlights the existing combination of principles reformulated from humoral medicine, the use of analogical reasoning, and ontological and functional interpretations of morbid processes. The principle of Hypocratical opposition and hot–cold categorisation are significant criteria that rule over the practices of mother and child health care during birth and puerperium.Implications for practiceconsequences of traditional knowledge on the health care of peasant women are discussed, based on the analysis of traditional practices from a peasant's point of view.