Objective
Harness medical anthropology to understand perceptions and
experiences of pregnancy and childbirth among Tojolabales
in Chiapas, Mexico to facilitate locally-initiated efforts
promoting safe, voluntary motherhood via community-congruent
intervention.
Theoretical
Axes
Biomedical and anthropological synthesis in which pregnancy
and birth are defined as cultural events resting on social
relationships and cultural meanings, such that maternal morbidity
and mortality cannot be adequately addressed without understanding
and attending to both biomedical and context-dependent social
and cultural components.
Methods
1. Review, organization, synthesis of maternal health data
reaped from 1500+ pages of field notes generated
nnduring a three-year ethnographic
study conducted by the Comitán Center for Health
Research
2. Analysis and discussion of data in light of recent conceptual
shifts in approaches to studying and
nnaddressing maternal mortality
Presentation
of Findings
• Thematic summaries of local perceptions and experiences
of: pregnancy, birth, after birth, value of children, infertility,
miscarriage and abortion, assisting with births, being a daughter-in-law
and having parents-in-law
• Narratives reconstructed from conversations and interviews
contextualizing and illuminating lived
experiences
• Overview of conceptual shifts in maternal mortality
focus in the Tojolabal context
• Medical anthropology-oriented insight into Tojolabal
maternal mortality revolving around: secular change,
seasonality, meanings of place of care, social complications
of pregnancy and conflict resolution, first
pregnancies and births, maternal morbidity, and understanding
women’s own priorities
Institutional
Support
• Comitán Center for Health Research www.cisc.org.mx
• National Science Foundation
• University of Arizona
Outline
of Master's Report
(Download Glantz MA
Outline.pdf)
Complete
Master's Report
Available upon request. ContactNaminoGlantz
