In this Book
- A Good Position for Birth: Pregnancy, Risk, and Development in Southern Belize
- Book
- 2018
- Published by: Vanderbilt University Press
summary
In order to understand the local realities of health and development initiatives undertaken to reduce maternal and infant mortality, the author accompanied rural health nurses as they traveled to villages accessible only by foot over waterlogged terrain to set up mobile prenatal and well-child clinics. Through sustained interactions with pregnant women, midwives, traditional birth attendants, and bush doctors, Maraesa encountered reproductive beliefs and practices ranging from obeah pregnancy to 'nointing that compete with global health care workers' directives about risk, prenatal care, and hospital versus home birth.
Fear and shame are prominent affective tropes that Maraesa uses to understand women's attitudes toward reproduction that are at times contrary to development discourse but that make sense in the lived experiences of the women of southern Belize.
Fear and shame are prominent affective tropes that Maraesa uses to understand women's attitudes toward reproduction that are at times contrary to development discourse but that make sense in the lived experiences of the women of southern Belize.
Table of Contents
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- Figures and Tables
- pp. ix-x
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xii
- Introduction
- pp. 1-24
- 1. Local Values in Action
- pp. 25-50
- 2. Risk and Blame
- pp. 51-79
- 3. In a Good Position
- pp. 80-107
- 4. Fearless Encounters
- pp. 108-139
- 5. "Obeah Pregnancy" and the Power of Shame
- pp. 140-161
- 6. Adoption and Anthropological Complicity
- pp. 162-182
- 7. Of Birth . . . and Death
- pp. 183-198
- References
- pp. 205-220
Additional Information
ISBN
9780826522023
Related ISBN(s)
9780826522009, 9780826522016
MARC Record
OCLC
1062396047
Pages
240
Launched on MUSE
2018-11-16
Language
English
Open Access
No