| Summary: | This article analyses how female identity is shaped by patriarchies and manifests differently according to cultural norms. In the United Kingdom (UK), maternal mortality of non-natives is considerably higher than natives. Nigeria has one of the worst maternal indices in the world, hence the imperative to explore the relationship between Nigerian cultural values and reproductive decision-making including uptake of birth control services. This research involves in-depth interviews with five heterosexual women of Nigerian heritage living in the north of England in Leeds, UK. The data collected is analysed using Critical Feminist Theory and manifests a number of nuanced, complex relationships centring on power, culture and gender which together serve to sustain and institutionalise certain cultural practices that impact negatively on the reproductive rights of Nigerian women. This research shows that Nigeria by contrast, has a dynamic web of cultural norms where men have the power to make these decisions which would normally predominantly reside with females in the UK. Thus, despite acculturation to a more liberal and equal society through migration, women of Nigerian origin who are permanent residents in the UK still have to negotiate traditional patriarchal expectations which continue to dominate decision-making processes from choosing a life partner to raising a family. Widespread cultural acceptance of male superiority; male child preference and the custom of paying bride price remain persistent practices which continue to create a strictly gendered hierarchical social order which diminishes the reproductive rights of Nigerian women in the UK.
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