Ritual hot baths (wankan-jego) in Zaria, Nigeria.

Among the Hausa-Fulani women of Zaria, Nigeria, "cold" or "sanyi" is thought to be a common cause of illnesses, and especially edema (swelling) during pregnancy. The traditional treatment for these illnesses is a hot bath. The new mother or mother-to-be sleeps in an overheated room and must take baths in very hot water, called "wankan- jego," to keep out the cold. The birth attendant uses a bundle of leafy twigs from tamarind or neem trees to splash hot water over the women's body. This splashing hides the real temperature of the hot water over the women's body. This splashing hides the real temperature of the hot water so that she does not feel it, but it may actually be 82 degrees centigrade. Severe scalds often result from, such baths. Women confined during childbirth in the hospital and then discharged are still often subjected to the "wakan-jego" after they return home. Their thighs, buttocks and breasts are the most susceptible areas where these hot-water scald burns are the worst, sometimes even resulting in their nipples being sloughed off, thus making the mother unable to lactate. Since most deliveries in the Zaria region still take place at home and most patients with childbirth complications come to the hospital only as a last resort, it is possible that scald injuries are underreported and the total morbidity and mortality rate may be much higher, both of mothers and babies. Understanding this cultural ritual is necessary to devise effective countermeasures, like encouraging hand testing the bath water for its safety before commencing the baths. Better still, since all the scalded patients in the groups studied were illiterate housewives, formal education could disprove the need for these traditional and harmful hot baths to chase away the "cold" that has been falsely believed to be the cause of childbirth illnesses. [full text]