OBJECTIVES: Nowadays, traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) has made significant contributions to the healthcare of Malaysian population. However, there are limited evidence-based practice guidelines regarding T&CM in pregnancy and postpartum worldwide. This study aimed to identify the association between participants’ demographic characteristics and T&CM use.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using self-administered, close-ended and open-ended questionnaires among pregnant and postpartum women in Kuala Muda District, Kedah, Malaysia. Data collected from 374 women were analysed and represented via descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: A total of 285 (76.2%) participants reported using T&CM either to conceive, during pregnancy or during the postpartum period. Biological based therapies (n=272, 95.4%) had the highest usage among all five categories of T&CM. Mind-body medicines (n=38, 61.3%) and alternative medical systems (n=26, 61.9%) were more commonly used among pregnant women compared to postpartum women. A significant association between participant’s condition (p<0.001), age (p<0.001), race (p=0.002), religion (p=0.002), and educational status (p=0.034) with manipulative and body-based practices were identified. More than half of the participants reported that they have used T&CM together with modern medicine (n=161, 56.5%) and many women were more likely to use T&CM during their first trimester of pregnancy (n=73, 43.5%) as well as after one or two weeks of childbirth (n=102, 45.7%). The majority had minimum expenditures of MYR100 and below (n=137, 48.1%) on their T&CM use. Most expectant women rely on advice from family members or friends (n=199, 69.8%), and many do not disclose their T&CM use to their healthcare providers (n=138, 48.4%).

CONCLUSIONS: These findings can contribute to a better understanding of T&CM use, which in turn can be used as a building block for developing a module to educate the public on how to differentiate reliable and non-reliable sources of information and to create awareness that while T&CM may be helpful, it is also not harmless.