For this week activity post, I am going to discuss about the births of Muslim Malaysian while using Jordan’s study on authoritative knowledge. Decades ago before the industrialization, pregnant women in Malaysia used to give birth at home accompanied by the midwives. This is no longer practiced by the majority due to modernization and improved healthcare system of the country. As I was reading through the Jordan’s article, I find that the hierarchical distribution of knowledge is just the same as in Malaysia’s hospital where what the woman knows and displays, by virtue of her bodily experience, has no status. (Jordan, 1992) The doctors are the ones who will decide when and how she can start to push her baby out despite of the situation. However, since Malaysia has two different healthcare systems which are government base and co-existing private healthcare system, the kinds of experience are also different. Private healthcare system is more flexible by allowing the mother to make her own decisions on some matters but still under the control of the physician. For example, a mother can decide if she wants to take epidural or any other painkillers for labor pain relief despite of her conditions. Also, the people present in the labor room is also the same as described in Jordan’s article which are the husband and a nurse technician who will be monitoring her throughout the labor.
Even though with the modern technologies, a great number of Malay women readily and willingly observe the restrictions and taboos that are part of postnatal tradition. Its purpose is for the women to regain their pre-baby body figure, health and energy levels. These practices include wearing the traditional postnatal corset, postnatal massage, hot compress, herbal baths and consuming different kind of herbs for 44 days after giving birth while some do it until 100 days. Usually, these women will hire a traditional midwife that they believe has great knowledge in the traditional postnatal practices. It is believed that confinement practices stem from the belief that the womb is a woman’s life force and affects her overall health. Thus, a healthy womb ensures that a woman stays radiant and alluring. (The Star, 2013) As a Malay woman myself, I can say that most these traditional confinement practices are deeply embedded in the culture but without neglecting the scientific medical method. There were even some people who make businesses out of these practices especially with increased access to technology and internet. According to New Straits Times (2017), there are online companies that offers comprehensive services tailored to suit the clients’/needs during confinement. They offer different packages including confinement-compliant food delivery, postnatal massage, herbal bath and baby-care where the assigned therapists will help the mother to bath, massage, apply herbal poultice and take care of the baby while she rests. Some companies also offer added services such as housekeeping and laundry with extra charges.
According to TheStar, the concept of traditional confinement may be foreign to Western cultures and some of the taboos may even sound weird as they are more used to the hospitals and modern medicine. But Asian cultures are rooted in nature and the concepts of natural surrounding is widely used to explain certain ailments.
References:
Badarudin, N., (2017, August 1). Home sweet confinement. New Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.nst.com.my/
Jordan, B., (1992). Technology and social interaction: notes on the achievement of authoritative knowledge in complex settings. Institute for Research on Learning. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FbFM9GAdVZ_AwFNteaNXNP1M0zBEk7Jm/view
Shufiyan, S., (2013, October 27). Birth taboos. The Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com.my/