Understanding experiences of reproductive inability in various medical systems in Maputo and Gaza Provinces, Mozambique
Author:
Keywords:
Mozambique, medical anthropology, sexuality, gender, infertility, traditional medecine
Abstract:
Summary In Southern Mozambique, as elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa,womens 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 physicaldiscomfort or social problem, consider the traditional medical practitioners(TMPs) as their first option and the same applies to treat reproductiveinability. A relevant issue in the study is the relationship betweenthe formal health services provided by the state and the health care providedby TMPs, the linkage between the different knowledge systems in an area ofcomplexities, contrasts and complementarities. The challenges are therefore toovercome the contradictions around the cultural practices, to recognize thedifferent medical paradigms and to deal with difficulties in the adoption ofdifferent medical systems approach to treatment. This study may contribute tounderstand reproductive inability as such and the challenges it brings to the different health systems women seek fortreatment, to promote the dialogue among them to improveeffectiveness, thus providing insights to an agenda aiming at integrativeand culturally sensitive research on infertility. Normal 0 21 false false false NL-BE X-NONE X-NONE