OBJECTIVES: Although the high prevalence of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) used during pregnancy and the postpartum period has been well documented, not a single study in Malaysia has been carried out to evaluate the communication between these women and their healthcare providers regarding T&CM use. Therefore, this study aims to identify the disclosure of T&CM use by pregnant and postpartum Malaysian women to their healthcare providers.

METHODS: In-depth qualitative interviews were carried out on all three major Malaysian ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians until the saturation point for this study was achieved. Framework analysis observed three themes in this study: disclosure rate among participants, reasons for T&CM use disclosure, and reasons for T&CM use non-disclosure.

RESULTS: A majority of the participants disclosed their T&CM use and agreed that disclosure of T&CM use to healthcare providers is important to avoid any complications during pregnancy and postpartum from happening or worsening. The lack of concern by healthcare providers towards T&CM use, the perception that T&CM will not disrupt conventional medicines and the assumption that T&CM is safe to use due to its practice which has been passed down from generation to generation were the most popular reasons for non-disclosure of T&CM use.

CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals that communication between T&CM users and healthcare providers about the integration of traditional and conventional practices is crucial due to the interactions which might occur. Hence, awareness studies regarding T&CM use is urgently needed in Malaysia to bridge the gap between T&CM users and healthcare providers.