Processes, experiences and practices of child bearing and birthing have remained embroiled within and been determined by larger social, economic, cultural and political currents. These currents have also been responsible for determining the epistemological constructions on the same. This research paper aims to engage on a critical review of the exiting literature on child bearing and birthing in India with a focus on marginalised mothers. The aim behind this critical review is to churn out the narratives that are formed within the exiting knowledge on mothers from the margins and to arrive at an understanding of the politics behind such knowledge production. Arguing for the ‘situatedness’ of policy formations and interventions, this paper is going to pose questions on the method of conducting research on the ‘maternal’ at the margins. This paper would not only attempt to map out the social placement of fertility of the marginalised Indian women but also shed light on the gaps in the exiting knowledge.
The existing notions of marginalised mothers being ‘unaware’ and ‘choiceless’, specifically propagated by policy frameworks needs to be challenged through explorations of everyday experiences of mothers at the margins. The broad dichotomy of choice/choicelessness that informs the exiting knowledge on marginalised mothers needs to be revisited with anthropological explorations of maternal subjectivities at the margins. The paper involves a small study from Sanjay Colony, Bhatti Mines. Sanjay Colony is an unauthorised settlement within Asola Wildlife Sanctuary in Delhi. Lying on the fringes of the city, this location has been home to migrants from Pakistan and bears a social history of mass job loss. Through an exploration of subjective experiences of child bearing and birthing in Sanjay Colony, the I argue for a ‘situated’ understanding of maternal experiences at the margins.
