Existing maternity care is inadequate in meeting
the desires of Muslim mothers. It was observed that
Muslim mothers who received ANC at health care
services came rather for treatment of complications
during pregnancy, rather than for routine checkups.
Thus the delay in deciding to seek, reach or receive
obstetric care and delay in transferring to an appropriate
birth center, both of which relate to maternal death,
need to be further analyzed to find ways to reduce the
MMR in this area.17, To improve the quality of
maternity care, the most appropriate approach to
respond to cultural constrains is to establish in-depth
understanding of Islamic culture. To contribute to
this process, it is crucial to assess culturally-sensitive
maternity care needs in order to meet the needs of
Muslim mothers in a rural community of the southern
most province, Thailand.