Understanding experiences of reproductive inability in various medical systems in Maputo and Gaza Provinces, Mozambique.

Mariano, Esmeralda

Understanding experiences of reproductive inability in various medical systems in Maputo and Gaza Provinces, Mozambique. - XIX, 273 p. - K.U.Leuven. Nieuwe reeks van doctoraten in de sociale wetenschappen 255 .

Diss. doct.

Summary In Southern Mozambique, as elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa,women’s status and power is largely determined by their marital fertility. Sincereproductive health is commonly assumed to be a women´s issue and the malefactor is often ignored, this assumption has been instrumentally used tocontrol women and reproductive process. Although in the last thirty years thestudy of human reproduction has been increasing infertility in developingcountries is not yet sufficiently visible in the research agenda. Thepsycho-social aspects surrounding the experience of reproductive inability donot receive sufficient importance to match the social consequences, particularlyin the developing world. Very little is known about the impact of fertilityproblems on community life in low-income contexts such as Mozambique, wherepatriarchal ideologies and norms can make life hard for women who are not ableto procreate. Based on participant observation, in-depth interviews, groupdiscussions, follow-up of cases, as well as illness narratives of womensuffering from the inability to bring forth offspring, thisresearch considers the interaction among medicine systems, gender policies, aspects of social hierarchy, economicinequalities, as well as individual choices and behaviours to achieve reproductive aspirations in Maputo,Magude and Xai-Xai in southern Mozambique. Women, when afflicted by a physical discomfort or social problem, consider the traditional medical practitioners(TMPs) as their first option and the same applies to treat reproductive inability. A relevant issue in the study is the relationship between the formal health services provided by the state and the health care provided by TMPs, the linkage between the different knowledge systems in an area of complexities, contrasts and complementarities. The challenges are therefore to overcome the contradictions around the cultural practices, to recognize the different medical paradigms and to deal with difficulties in the adoption of different medical systems approach to treatment. This study may contribute to understand reproductive inability as such and the challenges it brings to the different health systems women seek for treatment, to promote the dialogue among them to improve effectiveness, thus providing insights to an agenda aiming at integrative and culturally sensitive research on infertility


Academic collection
#SBIB:39A73--Etnografie: Afrika--Ethnography: Africa
#SBIB:39A9--Medische antropologie / gezondheid / handicaps--Medical Anthropology / Body / Disability