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Society
Model for Safer Motherhood
by Tripat Kaur
India has a
long and rich tradition of childbearing methods and practices. Ideally,
the medical fraternity should make an effort to integrate these with the
modern methods. Matrika, an NGO, aims to document the different methods
used by dais or Indian midwives across the country. Matrika, an acronym
for Motherhood and Traditional, Resources, Information, Knowledge and
Action, is a unique project to explore the indigenous knowledge of
dais. Matrika also means model in Hindi language.
Janet Chawla, founder of Matrika and a strong proponent of natural
childbirth, says that Indian midwives are more equipped to understand
the needs of a woman rather than the doctors. Chawla recently released a
book, `Birth and Birthgivers: The Power Behind the Shame'. The
book seeks to explore women's voices, agency and aesthetics in the
traditional handling of childbearing.
"It (childbirth) is a natural process and it should be without the
excessive use of technology. I have three children and out of them one
daughter was born with
the help of midwives in San Francisco (US) and it was this experience
which totally changed me. Most of the times, stitches are not required.
Also, doctors make you believe that a pregnant woman should lie on her
back while delivery, however, traditionally, the squatting position is
advised, which my experience
tells me is better," says Chawla.
She has held exercise classes for pregnant women in San Francisco. After
coming to India 25 years ago, she started teaching childbirth exercise
classes to
pregnant women. "Gradually some doctors contacted me to hold childbirth
exercise classes in their clinics."
"I think a pregnant woman should be aware of all the choices and insist
on childbirth without any medication. Most of the time, they are not
aware that they have the right to ask and insist on their choice. For
instance, there was this extremely orthodox Roman Catholic woman who
didn't want to use any medicines or surgery during delivery for
religious reasons. The doctors finally helped her deliver the baby
according to her wishes. So, it's very much possible to deliver babies
naturally even in a modern hospital," says Nutan Pandit, who was one of
the first to start childbirth exercise programs in Delhi.
Chawla believes that the dais are a reservoir of wisdom and knowledge.
The importance of dais can be ascertained by the fact that two-thirds of
births in India still occur at home and approximately a million Indian
women work as
midwives. According to a study by the UN, skilled personnel attend only
42 per cent of deliveries in India. Only 34 per cent of deliveries take
place in health
centres.
Around 1,30,000 women die due to pregnancy-related causes every year in
India and the maternal mortality rate is higher in rural areas, 619 as
compared to urban, which stands at 540.
Also, at a time when caesarean deliveries are increasing at an alarming
rate in India, it is time an effort is made to integrate the natural
birth techniques with the modern childbirth procedures for a safer
motherhood. "We are in fact, loosing a whole tradition. The skill,
knowledge and techniques used by dais should be utilized by the
doctors," believes Chawla.
Matrika conducted a three-year research project on the knowledge, skills
and practice of midwives. The research was carried out in Rajasthan,
Punjab, South Bihar and the resettlement colonies of Delhi. The study
was conducted in association with the NGOs, Ankur and Action India on
`women's experience in childbearing'.
"The research was difficult since childbirth is spoken about in
secretive tone. Initially, dais were very reluctant to talk about their
work since they thought
we would train them in modern childbirth methods or try to change them,"
says Chawla. "Also, there is hardly any data available on them. Dai
is also a very
loosely defined word: a woman who has helped in the birth of five
children is also a dai and a woman who has helped in 1000 births
is also a dai."
What is of special significance to Chawla is that dais don't separate
rituals associated with the actual process of childbirth. It is more
than a means of livelihood for them. For instance, a dai from the
rural Punjab said, `Rab (God) is the doer, the hands are mine'. Being a
woman and usually coming from the same culture milieu as the prospective
mother, dais are better equipped to
understand the mother. They also have a collective way of doing things,
which gives more power to the woman as a decision-maker.
Dais across the country employ different methods and Matrika has
endeavored to record the techniques used by the dais. Many a times, the
methods used by dais are linked to the climate of that place. For
instance, in the desert state of western Rajasthan, they attend to
births with the mother lying on a bed of warm sand, which foments her
body and absorbs blood and other waste. The sand can then be disposed
off safely.
Post the research project, Matrika plans to continue to disseminate its
findings within India, work as advocates for indigenous midwives and
network with
others promoting safe motherhood programs which are more grounded in
local realities.
There is also a lot of bias against the dais. "They are believed to be
unhygienic and responsible for the high child mortality rates. Some of
their procedures might be unhygienic but some of the traditional ways of
handling birth can make motherhood safer. Also, many a times, I feel
that dais become scapegoats for deaths which might have happened anyway,
especially due to the poor health status of most women in rural India,"
says Chawla.
January 22,
2005
By arrangement with
Women's Feature Service
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Society
The Week of January 22, 2006
Middle Class Heroes by Rajinder Puri
Hamas Treads the Political Path by Sujata
Ashwarya Cheema
Power, Pelf, Torture & Terror by Gaurang Bhatt,
MD
Indian Prime
Minister's Image Takes A Beating by Dr. Subhash Kapila
The Chemistry of Romance by Rajgopal
Nidamboor
Nation Building by Dr. Anil K. Rajvanshi
Hypocrisy by J. Ajithkumar
No Chicken by Manjula Waldron
Unforgettable Times: Indo
English Poetry in the Seventies by Dr. Amitabh Mitra
The Art and Bliss of Sexual Union by Meena
Iyer
Growing up Girls by Nitin Jugran Bahuguna
Model for Safer Motherhood by Tripat Kaur
Aditi in Wonderland by R Uma Maheshwari
Fatally White by Andrée-Marie Dussault
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