Traditional health care practices for women and children have emerged in all societies through cultural codifications of required procedures and rituals (Belsey, 2009) for providing viable support to pregnant women and new born babies. Although the contemporary idea of Maternal and Child health has been developed by WHO (1976) but the entire concept historically reflects the role of culture and institution in a comprehensive manner.
Introduction of biomedical treatments and its contingent factors have made an alternative approach particularly for the indigenous and or the marginalised communities who are found to rely on age-old health care practices. Here two aspects of birth practices are- a) “humanization of birth” (Odent 1984; Wangner 2001) or “personalization of birth” (Sadler 2009) b) medicalized birthing care (Jordon 1993). A “humanized childbirth” promotes the active participation of women regarding decision making and other aspect of their own care.
Some anthropologists have suggested that understanding the relationship between medicalization of child birth and women requires a multidimensional approach, other highlights the relationship among technology, medicine, medical systems, women bodies and body politics (David-Floyd 2001, 2004; Martin 2001). Particularly in the developing nations the typical situations of inaccessibility and lack of medical and technological knowledge make them more comfortable towards the age-old system. The hyper-medicalized notion of pregnancy and delivery that turns women into patients who lose control over their own body (David-Floyd 2001, 2004; Martin 2001) mostly do not hold a strong perception among the marginalised sections.
On the other hand, imposition of unrealistic government laws regarding the accessibilities of family planning programme among some diminishing vulnerable population creates the situation more volatile.
Hence the proposal invites the research explorations on any of the mentioned discourses.
