Through comadrona, midwife and doctor: the therapeutic itinerary of a pregnant woman in Guatemala

Authors

  • Soraya Fleischer Universidad Federal de Río Grande do Sul, Brasil
    Magister en Antropología Social por la Universidad de Brasilia. Actualmente es doctoranda en Antropologia Social por la Universidad Federal de Río Grande do Sul, Brasil. Entre sus publicaciones están: "O trabalho de uma parteira guatemalteca" (en Secretaria Municipal da Cultura de Porto Alegre (org.). Historias de Trabalho/2004. 11. ed. Porto Alegre, 2005); "Doulas como "amortecedores afetivos": Notas etnográficas sobre uma nova acompanhante de parto" (Revista Ciencias Sociais da UNISINOS. vol. 41, n. 1, 2005, pp. 11-22).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18800/anthropologica.200601.003

Keywords:

Guatemala, midwife, birth

Abstract

In this article, I discuss, according to the theoretical-analytical framework of Menéndez (1994), how women and their midwives follow a plural therapeutical itinerary during pregnancy and labor in the region of Antigua, Guatemala. I look forward to present and analyze an example of a delivery that happened during my research, first, as a paradigmatic example of dialogue, not always friendly and pacific, among various local medical systems: a Mayan comadrona (the local midwife), a ladino doctor and a foreign nurse-midwife. Second, this delivery illustrates an encounter that brings together ethnic, class, and gender relations influences by  power and conflict that has structured the material and symbolic construction of this "young" country.

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Published

2006-04-12

How to Cite

Fleischer, S. (2006). Through comadrona, midwife and doctor: the therapeutic itinerary of a pregnant woman in Guatemala. Anthropologica Del Departamento De Ciencias Sociales, 24(24), 51–75. https://doi.org/10.18800/anthropologica.200601.003

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 24 (2006)

Section

Call for Papers: Body, sickness and health