This paper investigates why women in rural areas are still more inclined to traditional childbirth practices instead of relying on hospital birth. Particularly in India, most rural areas do not have a proper healthcare system for pregnant women to have a safe delivery with the presence of skilled professional caregivers. The healthcare system is very poor in rural India. Through this paper, the author wants to shed light on why women in rural areas are forced to opt for the “humanization of birth.” This paper will choose two or three villages in India as case studies to describe how pregnant women in rural areas are forced to give birth in unhygienic conditions due to the lack of hospitals, clinics, and skilled health professionals (doctors, nurses). Even though the Reproductive and Child Health Programme emphasizes that birthing women must deliver their babies in hygienic conditions under the supervision of skilled health professionals. However, most rural areas in India fail to provide this basic facility to pregnant women. As a result, most of the deliveries in rural areas take place at home with the help of family members and midwives who are not trained in how to ensure safe delivery, how to recognize and solve birth-related complications, how to provide safe care to the newborn baby and the new mother. For the case study analysis, this paper will focus on villages in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and West Bengal. Secondary data (Books, Journal articles, government documents, and newspaper articles) will be used to investigate the difficulties women face during pregnancy and postpartum in rural India. This paper will help to understand how much trouble and suffering women go through during their pregnancy and the postpartum period in rural India while seeking basic maternity healthcare services from the State government.
