DOCSLIB.ORG

Care-Seeking for Birth in Urban India

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Care-Seeking for Birth in Urban India 1 The London School of Economics and Political Science Care-Seeking for Birth in Urban India Eleri Jones A thesis submitted to the Department of Social Policy of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, January 2015 2 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 77,245 words. Eleri Jones 3 Abstract The thesis examines care-seeking for first births in low-income settlements of urban India. Care-seeking is framed as a dynamic, social process. The thesis shifts the research focus from non-use of maternity services to a more holistic notion of care-seeking strategies, and examines how they are shaped by patterned social relationships and their content. The study combines a prospective, qualitative design with multiple household perspectives. Seventy-seven in-depth interviews were conducted in 16 households. Matched data were collected for primiparous women and other household members, and interviews were conducted prospectively during pregnancy with a follow-up after birth. The study was conducted in Indore, a large city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, where a range of maternity care providers operate in a complex urban health system. This population could be characterised as strategic care-seekers, aware and discriminating across the range of care options available. Managing perceived risks was central to strategies, but solutions differed due to variation in perceptions of risks and their management. The notion that childbirth requires medical management was dominant. Yet, health facilities were also regarded as a potential source of risk. Strategies were plural and contingent, combining different providers across and within sectors, giving households control and flexibility in dealing with unfolding circumstances. Local narratives apportion responsibility for care-seeking to the household in which the woman is staying for the birth. The value placed locally on household-level ‘responsibility’ contrasts with the focus on women’s autonomy in the literature on maternal health. A corollary of responsibility is blame in the event of an adverse outcome, which impels households to seek care that meets expectations among their social ties. The thesis generates new insight on an issue that has previously been examined largely with static approaches, underpinned by individual rational actor assumptions. Findings reveal care-seeking strategies that go beyond a decision on whether or not to use a health facility. This partly derives from a complex urban health system providing choice, but it is also a response to the challenges households face in negotiating the health system to receive care they perceive to be ‘safe.’ The findings have implications for the policy goals of increasing births with a skilled attendant and improving quality of care. 4 Acknowledgements I gratefully acknowledge financial support I received from the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) and subsequently the Department of Social Policy at the London School of Economics (LSE). I am enormously grateful to Dr. Siddharth Agarwal, Neeraj Verma and other staff at the Urban Health Resource Centre (UHRC) for their hospitality, kindness and guidance during my time in Indore. Special thanks to Shabnam Verma at UHRC for her support, patience and hard work while assisting the research and for our many interesting discussions. I am grateful to the contacts who introduced Shabnam and me to the study households. Most of all, the research would not have been possible without the study participants who shared their stories, their homes and their time. I cannot thank my supervisors, Ernestina Coast and Tiziana Leone, enough for their encouragement, guidance and support throughout the research process. They have been truly inspiring mentors. Thank you also to Divya Parmar for reading and commenting on a draft of the methodology chapter. And I am very grateful to have been surrounded by wonderful friends at the LSE, who have made the PhD such an enriching experience. In particular, I would like to thank Paul Bouanchaud, Anne Marie Brady, Louise Caffrey, Valeria Cetorelli, Rachel Deacon, Victoria de Menil, Emily Freeman, Alice Goisis, Ellie Hukin, Else Knudsen, Sam Lattof, and Heini Väisänen. Finally, my heartfelt thanks to family and friends for always being there. Thank you in particular to my partner Alex Andreyev, who has supported me in every way possible over the past four years, kept me going and kept me smiling. And words cannot express my gratitude to my parents, Gareth Jones and Rita Jones. I owe everything to their love, support and belief in me. 5 For my father, Gareth Jones 6 Contents Lists of Tables and Figures ..................................................................................................... 9 Acronyms, glossary and translations .................................................................................... 10 Key to interview excerpts ..................................................................................................... 13 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 14 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 14 1.2 Literature on maternity care-seeking in India ............................................................. 16 1.3 Research questions and outline ................................................................................... 21 2. Health Care-Seeking Framework ...................................................................................... 25 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 25 2.2 Dominant models of health care-seeking .................................................................... 25 2.3 Frameworks in studies of maternity care-seeking ...................................................... 27 2.4 Critiques of dominant health care-seeking models ..................................................... 29 2.5 Alternative health care-seeking approaches ................................................................ 33 2.6 The study’s care-seeking framework .......................................................................... 36 2.7 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 39 3. The Study Context ............................................................................................................ 41 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 41 3.2 Socioeconomic context ............................................................................................... 41 3.3 The context of marriage and childbearing .................................................................. 47 3.4 Trends in maternal health, health care and policy ...................................................... 49 3.5 Current maternal health care scenario ......................................................................... 55 3.6 The field site: Indore ................................................................................................... 60 3.7 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 66 4. Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 67 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 67 4.2 Research design .......................................................................................................... 67 4.2.1 Multiple household perspectives .......................................................................... 68 4.2.2 Prospective design ............................................................................................... 70 4.3 Fieldwork .................................................................................................................... 73 4.3.1 Research assistant ................................................................................................ 75 4.4 Household sample ....................................................................................................... 76 4.4.1 Sample summary .................................................................................................. 80 7 4.5 Household interviews .................................................................................................. 85 4.6 Key informant interviews ........................................................................................... 89 4.7 Data
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Alternative Strategies to Reduce Maternal Mortality in India: a Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
    Alternative Strategies to Reduce Maternal Mortality in India: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Goldie, Sue J., Steve Sweet, Natalie Carvalho, Uma Chandra Mouli Natchu, and Delphine Hu. 2010. Alternative strategies to reduce maternal mortality in India: a cost-effectiveness analysis. PLoS Medicine 7(4): e1000264. Published Version doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000264 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4553340 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Alternative Strategies to Reduce Maternal Mortality in India: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Sue J. Goldie1,3*, Steve Sweet1, Natalie Carvalho1, Uma Chandra Mouli Natchu2,4, Delphine Hu1,3 1 Center for Health Decision Science, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, 2 Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, 3 Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, 4 Pediatric Biology Centre, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Delhi, India Abstract Background: Approximately one-quarter of all pregnancy- and delivery-related maternal deaths worldwide occur in India. Taking into account the costs, feasibility, and operational complexity of alternative interventions, we estimate the clinical and population-level benefits associated with strategies to improve the safety of pregnancy and childbirth in India.
    [Show full text]
  • Cost of Hospitalization for Childbirth in India: How Equitable It Is in the Post‑NRHM Era? Jaya Prasad Tripathy1*, Hemant D
    Tripathy et al. BMC Res Notes (2017) 10:409 DOI 10.1186/s13104-017-2729-z BMC Research Notes RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Cost of hospitalization for childbirth in India: how equitable it is in the post‑NRHM era? Jaya Prasad Tripathy1*, Hemant D. Shewade1, Sanskruti Mishra2, A. M. V. Kumar1 and A. D. Harries3,4 Abstract Background and objective: Information on out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure during childbirth in public and private health facilities in India is needed to make rational decisions for improving afordability to maternal care services. We undertook this study to evaluate the OOP expenditure due to hospitalization from childbirth and its impact on households. Methods: This is a secondary data analysis of a nationwide household survey by the National Sample Survey Organi- zation in 2014. The survey reported health service utilization and health care related expenditure by income quintiles and type of health facility. The recall period for hospitalization expenditure was 365 days. OOP expenditure amounting to more than 10% of annual consumption expenditure was termed as catastrophic. Results: Median expenditure per episode of hospitalisation due to childbirth was US$54. The expenditure incurred was about six times higher among the richest quintile compared to the poorest quintile. Median private sector OOP hospitalization expenditure was nearly nine times higher than in the public sector. Hospitalization in a private sector facility leads to a signifcantly higher prevalence of catastrophic expenditure than hospitalization in a public sector (60% vs. 7%). Indirect cost (43%) constituted the largest share in the total expenditure in public sector hospitalizations. Urban residence, poor wealth quintile, residing in eastern and southern regions of India and delivery in private hospi- tal were signifcantly associated with catastrophic expenditure.
    [Show full text]
  • Increasing Caesarean Section Delivery: a Threat to Urban Women’S Health?
    Title: Increasing caesarean section delivery: A threat to urban women’s health? Authors: Sancheeta Ghosh* and K.S James† Introduction: A consistent increase has been observed in the rate of caesarean section deliveries in most of the developed countries and in many developing countries including India over the last few decades derivate a matter of concern among the social scientists. In recent years, especially in parts of world, it is often argued that with thriving private practice, obstetricians increasingly prefer for medicalised birth than normal birth. In addition, there is also some evidence from Western countries on increasing preference from women who want to deliver their child through the c-section. The rates of caesarean section in many countries have increased beyond the recommended level of 5-15 % by WHO, almost doubling in the last decade. In high income countries like Australia, US, Germany, Italy and France, the rates have gone phenomenally (Sufang et.al, 2007). The present data shows that in United States, 1.2 million or 29.1 percent of life births were by c-section delivery in the year 2004 (NIHS, 2006). Of the 12 Latin American countries reviewed recently Brazil had the highest rate of c-section (Behague et al. 2002). Similar trends have also been documented in low income countries such as Brazil, China and India, especially for births in private hospitals (Potter et al. 2001; Cai et al. 1998; Mishra and Ramanathan, 2002). In a developing * Research Associate at International Centre for Research on Women, New Delhi. † Professor and Head, Population Research Centre. Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore Here the term caesarean delivery and c-section delivery are used interchangeably.
    [Show full text]
  • Preparing Midwives As a Human Resource for Maternal Health: Pre-Service Education and Scope of Practice in Gujarat, India
    From : Department of Women‘s and Children‘s Health Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Preparing Midwives as a Human Resource for Maternal Health: Pre-service Education and Scope of Practice in Gujarat, India Bharati Sharma Stockholm 2014 All previously published papers were reproduced with permission from the publisher. Published by Karolinska Institutet Printed by Universitetsservice US-AB © Bharati Sharma, 2014 ISBN 978-91-7549-657-3 Department of Women‘s and Children‘s Health Division of Reproductive Health Preparing Midwives as a Human Resource for Maternal Health: Pre-service Education and Scope of Practice in Gujarat, India DISSERTATION For Doctoral Degree (Ph.D.) at Karolinska Institutet The public defence will be held at Lecture room Samuelsson, Tomtebodavägen 6, Solna Campus, Stockholm At 9.00 a.m. on Monday, 29th September 2014 by Bharati Sharma Principal Supervisor: Opponent: Professor Kyllike Christensson Professor Tina Lavender Karolinska Institutet Manchester University Department of Women‘s and Children‘s Health School of Nurses and Midwives and Division of Reproductive Health Social Work Co-supervisor(s): Examination Board: Professor Eva Johansson Professor Maria Emmelin Karolinska Institutet Lund University Department of Public Health Department of Social Medicine & Global Health Division of Global Health Professor Eva Nissen Professor Dileep Mavalankar Karolinska Institutet Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar Department of Women‘s and Children‘s Health Gujarat, India Division of Reproductive Health Dr. Malavarappu Prakasamma Docent Siw Alehagen Academy of Nursing Studies and Linköpings University Women‘s Empowerment Research, Department of Medical & Health Science Hyderabad, India ABSTRACT One key strategy to achieve reduction in maternal and neonatal mortality is to scale up the availability of skilled birth attendants (SBAs).
    [Show full text]
  • 1 from Dias to Doctors : the Medicalisation of Childbirth In
    From Dias to Doctors : The Medicalisation of Childbirth in Colonial India by Supriya Guha. In : Understanding Womens Health Issues : A Reader. Kali. 1998.p. 228. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From Dias to Doctors: The Medicalisation of Childbirth in Colonial India Supriya Guha If she have sent her servants in our pain, If she have fought with Death and dulled his sword, If she have given back our sick again, And to our breasts the weakling lips restored, Is it a little thing that she hath wrought? Then Birth and Death and Motherhood be nought. -- Rudyard Kipling [1] Kipling was paying tribute to the Vicereine who established the Fund associated with her name. This was an organisation which employed medical women (or 'lady doctors') to run a chain of hospitals and dispensaries all over India and Burma. Established in 1885, the avowed aims of the Dufferin Fund were to provide medical tuition to Indian women, medical relief to Indian women, and trained female nurses and midwives for women and children in hospitals and private homes. Because the Fund was the first large endeavour in the area of women's health in colonial India, and because it enjoyed the patronage of the successive Vicereines and was associated with a great degree of official interest, it assumes more importance to historians than it perhaps deserves. It is said that no less august a personality than Queen Victoria herself was the moving force behind the establishment of the Fund. The medical missionary, Elizabeth Bielby, is said to have carried back to the Queen-Empress a message from the Maharani of Panna, imploring her to 'do something' for her 'daughters in India' who suffered so terribly in childbirth.
    [Show full text]
  • Health and Morbidity in India (2004-2014) SHAMIKA RAVI RAHUL AHLUWALIA SOFI BERGKVIST BROOKINGS INDIA QUALITY
    BROOKINGS INDIA QUALITY. INDEPENDENCE. IMPACT Health and Morbidity In India (2004-2014) SHAMIKA RAVI RAHUL AHLUWALIA SOFI BERGKVIST BROOKINGS INDIA QUALITY. INDEPENDENCE. IMPACT Brookings India Research Paper © 2016 Brookings Institution India Center No. 6, Second Floor, Dr. Jose P Rizal Marg Chanakyapuri, New Delhi - 110021 www.brookings.in Recommended citation: Ravi, Shamika; Ahluwalia, Rahul; Bergkvist, Sofi (2016). “Health and Morbidity in India (2004-2014),” Brookings India Research Paper No. 092016. The Brookings Institution India Center serves as a platform for cutting-edge, independent, policy-relevant research and analysis on the opportunities and challenges facing India and the world. The Center is based in New Delhi, and registered as a company limited by shares and not for profit, under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. Established in 2013, the Center is the third and newest overseas center of the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution. Our work is centered on the Brookings motto of “Quality, Independence, Impact.” All content reflects the individual views of the author(s). Brookings India does not hold an institutional view on any subject. Cover Photo: Vinoth Chandar, under Creative Commons License Health and Morbidity in India (2004-2014)1 Shamika Ravi (Brookings Institution, India Center) Rahul Ahluwalia (Brookings Institution, India Center) Sofi Bergkvist (ACCESS Health International) August 2016 1 We are grateful to Indrani Gupta, Anit Mukherjee, Sandhya Venkateswaran, Rajeev Sadanandan and Alok Kumar for detailed comments and a special thanks to Dr. Archna Singh at AIIMS for helping with ailment data. Please send in your suggestions to [email protected] . We take full responsibility for all remaining errors.
    [Show full text]
  • Modernizing Childbirth in Colonial Bengal a History of Institutionalization and Professionalization of Midwifery, C.1860-1947
    i Modernizing Childbirth in Colonial Bengal A History of Institutionalization and Professionalization of Midwifery, c.1860-1947 By Ambalika Guha A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington (2015) ii iii Abstract In colonial India, medicalization of childbirth has been historically perceived as an attempt to ‘sanitise’ the zenana (secluded quarters of a respectable household inhabited by women) as the chief site of birthing practices and to replace the dhais (traditional birth attendants ) with trained midwives and qualified female doctors. This thesis has taken a broader view of the subject but in doing so, focusses on Bengal as the geographical area of study. It has argued that medicalization of childbirth in Bengal was preceded by the reconstitution of midwifery as an academic subject and a medical discipline at the Calcutta Medical College. The consequence was the gradual ascendancy of professionalized obstetrics that prioritised research, surgical intervention and ‘surveillance’ over women’s bodies. The thesis also shows how the medicalization of childbirth was supported by the reformist and nationalist discourses of the middle-class Bengalis in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The thesis begins from the 1860s when the earliest scientific essays on childbirth and pregnancy began to appear in Bengali women’s magazines such as Bamabodhini Patrika. It ends in the 1940s, when nationalism profoundly influenced the professionalization of obstetrics - midwifery being perceived as the keystone in a nation’s progress. Bengal being the earliest seat of British power in India it was also the first to experience contact with the western civilization, culture and thought.
    [Show full text]
  • State of Newborn Health in India
    OPEN Journal of Perinatology (2016) 36, S3–S8 www.nature.com/jp REVIEW State of newborn health in India MJ Sankar1, SB Neogi2, J Sharma2, M Chauhan2, R Srivastava3, PK Prabhakar3, A Khera3, R Kumar3, S Zodpey2 and VK Paul1 About 0.75 million neonates die every year in India, the highest for any country in the world. The neonatal mortality rate (NMR) declined from 52 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 28 per 1000 live births in 2013, but the rate of decline has been slow and lags behind that of infant and under-five child mortality rates. The slower decline has led to increasing contribution of neonatal mortality to infant and under-five mortality. Among neonatal deaths, the rate of decline in early neonatal mortality rate (ENMR) is much lower than that of late NMR. The high level and slow decline in early NMR are also reflected in a high and stagnant perinatal mortality rate. The rate of decline in NMR, and to an extent ENMR, has accelerated with the introduction of National Rural Health Mission in mid-2005. Almost all states have witnessed this phenomenon, but there is still a huge disparity in NMR between and even within the states. The disparity is further compounded by rural–urban, poor–rich and gender differentials. There is an interplay of different demographic, educational, socioeconomic, biological and care-seeking factors, which are responsible for the differentials and the high burden of neonatal mortality. Addressing inequity in India is an important cross-cutting action that will reduce newborn mortality. Journal of Perinatology (2016) 36, S3–S8; doi:10.1038/jp.2016.183 BACKGROUND neonatal deaths has reduced from 1.35 million in 1990 to 0.75 1,3 The neonatal period—the first 28 days of life—carries the highest million in 2013 (Table 1).
    [Show full text]
  • HEALTH SYSTEMS Andhra Pradesh: Health Scenario, Health Systems Interventions and Cost-Benefit Studies
    HEALTH SYSTEMS Andhra Pradesh: Health Scenario, Health Systems Interventions and Cost-Benefit Studies Cost-Benefit Analysis PR Sodani Neeraj Sharma Md Mahbub Hossain D K Mangal AUTHORS: Acting President IIHMR University IIHMR University Dean Research IIHMR University Jaipur, Rajasthan, India Jaipur, Rajasthan, India IIHMR University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India Jaipur, Rajasthan, India SD Gupta Chairman IIHMR University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India © 2018 Copenhagen Consensus Center [email protected] www.copenhagenconsensus.com This work has been produced as a part of the Andhra Pradesh Priorities project under the larger, India Consensus project. This project is undertaken in partnership with Tata Trusts. Some rights reserved This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). Under the Creative Commons Attribution license, you are free to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt this work, including for commercial purposes, under the following conditions: Attribution Please cite the work as follows: #AUTHOR NAME#, #PAPER TITLE#, Andhra Pradesh Priorities, Copenhagen Consensus Center, 2017. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0. Third-party-content Copenhagen Consensus Center does not necessarily own each component of the content contained within the work. If you wish to re-use a component of the work, it is your responsibility to determine whether permission is needed for that re-use and to obtain permission from the copyright owner. Examples of components can include, but are not limited to, tables, figures, or images. Andhra Pradesh: Health Scenario, Health Systems Interventions and Cost-Benefit Studies Andhra Pradesh Priorities An India Consensus Prioritization Project P R Sodani (Acting President), Neeraj Sharma, Md Mahbub Hossain, D K Mangal (Dean Research), S D Gupta (Chairman) IIHMR University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
    [Show full text]
  • Heath Care Providers' Perceptions of the Reproductive Challenges And
    San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks Doctoral Projects Master's Theses and Graduate Research Spring 5-1-2015 Heath Care Providers’ Perceptions of the Reproductive Challenges and Experiences among Asian Indian Women Living in Silicon Valley Olga Alexandra Libova Northern California Consortium, Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, California State University, Fresno and San José State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_doctoral Part of the Maternal, Child Health and Neonatal Nursing Commons, and the Nursing Midwifery Commons Recommended Citation Libova, Olga Alexandra, "Heath Care Providers’ Perceptions of the Reproductive Challenges and Experiences among Asian Indian Women Living in Silicon Valley" (2015). Doctoral Projects. 6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.5nn2-r6ap https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_doctoral/6 This Doctoral Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses and Graduate Research at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Projects by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HEATH CARE PROVIDERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE REPRODUCTIVE CHALLENGES AND EXPERIENCES AMONG ASIAN INDIAN WOMEN LIVING IN SILICON VALLEY by Olga Alexandra Libova A doctoral project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice in the California State University, Northern California Consortium, Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, California State University, Fresno April 2015 ABSTRACT HEATH CARE PROVIDERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE REPRODUCTIVE CHALLENGES AND EXPERIENCES AMONG ASIAN INDIAN WOMEN LIVING IN SILICON VALLEY Objective: To identify common reproductive challenges among Asian Indian (AI) women living in Silicon Valley as perceived by healthcare providers (HCP).
    [Show full text]
  • Invoking Vali Painful Technologies of Modern Birth in South India
    Syracuse University SURFACE Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Anthropology - Faculty Publications Affairs 2003 Invoking Vali Painful Technologies of Modern Birth in South India Cecilia Van Hollen Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/ant Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Van Hollen, C. (2003). Invoking Vali: Painful technologies of modern birth in South India. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 17(1), 49. This Manuscript is brought to you for free and open access by the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology - Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This is an author-produced, peer-reviewed version of this article. The published version of this document can be found online in Medical Anthropology Quarterly. (http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/uploadedFiles/moynihan/sac/Van%20Hollen,%20Invoking%20Vali%20Painful%20T echnologies%20of%20Modern%20Birth.pdf) published by Anthrosource – American Anthropological Association. Invoking Vali: Painful Technologies of Modern Birth in South India Cecilia Van Hollen, Syracuse University As reproduction becomes increasingly biomedicalized throughout the globe, reproductive technologies are used in unique ways and imbued with different meanings. This article explores why lower-class women in south India in the 1990s were demanding to have childbirth labors induced with oxytocin drugs while rejecting anesthesia. Cultural constructions of women's reproductive power are evoked and reworked in discourses of modernity that explain this preference. Discourses on relationships among gender, pain, and modernity relate to political-economic constraints on hospitals to perpetuate this practice.
    [Show full text]
  • Maternal and Reproductive Health Joint Stakeholder Report to UNHRC for India’S UPR – III
    22nd September 2016 Word Count: 5621 (excluding cover page, information on contributors and endnotes) Maternal and Reproductive Health Joint Stakeholder Report to UNHRC for India’s UPR – III Submitted on Behalf of the Coalition of Organizations on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, India (SRHRIndia) National Alliance for Coalition for Jan Swasthya Abhiyan Maternal Health and Maternal-Neonatal Health (People’s Health Movement Human Rights and Safe Abortion – India) (NAMHHR) Contributors: 1. Jashodhara Dasgupta & Sandhya Y.K, SAHAYOG Lucknow, 2. Renu Khanna, SAHAJ and CommonHealth 3. Subha Sri B. CommonHealth 4. Sana Contractor Centre for Health and Social Justice, New Delhi 5. Sandhya Gautam, National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human Rights 6. Richa Chintan, Centre for Budgets and Governance Accountability (CBGA) 7. Amit Sengupta, National Coordinator JSA (People’s Health Movement, India) 8. Vandana Prasad and others of the Working Group for Children under six of the JSA Contents About the Contributors............................................................................................................ 3 Methodology........................................................................................................................... 7 Health systems in India ............................................................................................................ 8 Resource allocations for health ............................................................................................ 9 Health workforce shortages ................................................................................................10
    [Show full text]