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Paper short abstract:

I argue that herbal practices as a form of cultural heritage influenced the female reproductive health system. Through narratives from the shrine, I reveal hitherto unexplored significance, and offer new vistas for future scholarship, in the African contribution to global reproductive health.

Paper long abstract:

Historiography on colonial medical history often negates the significance of herbal medicine in sustaining the health of people. By placing emphasis on the activities of British medical officers and missionary medicine, existing research on the colonial medical system largely sidelines the roles that healers played in engendering global maternal health. Most interpretations of global health largely dismissed Yoruba medicine and little is known about the roles of African traditional healers and healing institutions in social reproduction. Taking the case of Yorubaland, I contend that pre-literate Africa had a sustained system of non-biomedical practices before the onset of colonialism and Christianity. By contrast, I argue that herbal knowledge and practices as a form of cultural heritage influenced the female reproductive health system. Through oral shreds of evidence, ethnographic accounts, interactions with healers, and analysis of existing literature, this paper explores the changing dynamics of herbal healing and fertility in Yoruba culture. I argue that healers in their capacity, provide preventive and holistic treatment to meet the physical, psychological, spiritual, and reproductive needs of women. A focus on herbal medicine uncovers the dynamic indigenous knowledge and practices which took place in shrines between healers and prospective mothers in the British colony of Yorubaland. I reveal hitherto unexplored significance, and offer new vistas for future scholarship, in the African contribution to global reproductive health.