Activity Post 5

For my final project I decided to do the effects of educating women on maternal mortality in India using the critical medical anthropological approach. I am really interested in this topic because of my familial roots in India and my interest in women health issues. According to the material from week one, the critical anthropological approach looks at how the people in charge or with all of the power in a country can lead to better or worse outcomes for different groups of people within that country (Critical Medical Anthropological Theory, 2019). The people in charge or with the power can include people of political, economic, or social power within a country (Critical Medical Anthropological Theory, 2019). This theory points out how inequalities are formed by these new policies placed on the people in the country and how people within different social, economic, or political groups can be impacted differently. Moreover, critical medical anthropologists asks questions about the people that benefit and the people that suffer based on these new policies being created (Critical Medical Anthropological Theory, 2019). For example, they discuss why some people in one area are dying from a disease more than other people in a different area. Additionally, the critical medical anthropological theory states that policies can put people at risk, create political disparities, create an environment that emphasizes healthy living conditions, and allows harmful products to enter the city or country (Singer and Erickson, 2011). This is why I decided to discuss maternal mortality in India based on the critical medical anthropological theory.

I think this theory works perfectly for maternal mortality in India because critical medical anthropology discusses the power differential between those who make the policy and those who live it. Therefore, due to the lack of women representatives in the Indian government, there are not very good policies or regulations in place for women giving birth. By giving the power to women by educating them, I think the maternal mortality rates in India can significantly decrease. Additionally, according to UNICEF, the amount of skilled attendants at birth in rural areas is about 43.3% and the amount of skilled attendants at birth for urban areas is about 75.6%, leading to a greater amount of maternal deaths in rural areas (UNICEF). In fact, Kumar (2010)  concluded that 80% of maternal deaths occurred in families who lived in poverty and 61% of mothers that died were in the lower caste. Additionally, mothers in the lowest socioeconomic class had about two and a half times higher mortality rate than mothers in the higher classes (UNICEF). Moreover, the maternal mortality ratio in India is about 210, but the maternal mortality ratio in the United States was about 12.7 (UNICEF). The difference in these numbers supports the fact that the United States has more resources for women giving birth. Therefore, this can be applied to the critical medical anthropological theory because it supports how maternal mortality is a regionally based idea because there are not as many resources in poor regions.

Works Cited

Introducing Theory 3: Critical Medical Anthropological Theory. (2019, May 23). Retrieved from http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp270-us19/lecture-videos/critical-medical-anthropological-theory/

Kumar, S. (2010). Reducing maternal mortality in India: Policy, equity, and quality issues. Indian Journal of Public Health54(2), 57.

Maternal Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://unicef.in/whatwedo/1/maternal-health

Singer, M., & Erickson, P. I. (2011). A companion to medical anthropology. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

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