Before reading this week’s articles and watching the videos I assumed most developed countries had similar views on pregnancies and birthing procedures were similar; however, I quickly learned countries have different beliefs on the process. Pregnant women in the United States used have midwives perform the birthing procedures; however, this idea has drastically changed to a majority of women going to hospitals. Flexner urged people to only teach based on a biology and chemistry, which requires a medical license. Midwives typically don’t have their license, so they had to stop practicing. In other countries such as the Netherlands, they use biomedicine along with other medical systems. According to de Jonge A’s study, women in the Netherlands who give birth at home or at a hospital have no significant differences. This study utilizes the epidemiological theory to show how the population of women are affect by birthing procedures in two different locations. Therefore, many women use midwives if they’re at low-risk because the study shows the majority of women making the best decision for themselves. This is quite different from the United States where most women go to hospitals because they believe their birth is unique and acquires professional attention.
Children in the Inuit are treated vastly different than other children across the world. Anna Davis states the soul of a deceased relative is inserted into a newly born child, which I believe is part of the reason children are at the center of family. The soul of their deceased relatives should be treated with love and affection. In the United States, there aren’t many people that believe children have the souls of their deceased relatives. Inuit children breast feed much longer than children in the United States, which supposedly teaches them to be considerate to their elders. Another major difference is the mindset towards people who don’t have children. In the United States, people typically don’t judge why couples don’t have kids as there could be many reasons why. In contrast, according to Anne Davis, Inuit assume households without children are empty and lack affection. Based on Anne Davis’ research and videos, we can apply the critical medical anthropological theory to show how the economic status of women results in the best birthing procedures to occur at home, since many of them can’t afford to fly to Southern Canada to give birth.
In less developed countries, such as Vietnam many women prefer to give birth at home with the help of village women, so they can perform their culture’s rituals. Nick Ahlmark and Nicole Precel film a video that shows the life of a midwife in Vietnam urging pregnant women to give birth at the district health center. Based on their film adaptation, the feminist theory can be applied as the women make the decision to go to the health center. First, women have to ask their husbands for permission to leave the village, which is stereotypical of least developed countries. Also, I predict the women didn’t want to leave the village because there wouldn’t be anyone to take care of the predetermined roles and responsibilities. Women were willing to take the risk of dying and losing the baby to ensure their husband’s and families were properly take care of.
Lastly, the United States has a different perspective on death. Similar to the change from births occurring at home to hospitals many people end their lives in hospitals where they’re taken care of by health professionals. Merilynne Ruth urges Americans to care for the dying family members at home; however, many people feel as if they’re bothering their family to take care of them. Ruth believes by educating the public on how to take properly plan an at home funeral they’re more willing to care for the deceased relatives. Overall, this week’s lesson showed me the United States is vastly different with regards to birth and death compared to other cultures.
Below is a picture from an online magazine called modern mom, which produces articles to help women of all ages. There a few dominant ideas about birth in America, one which is the eating during pregnancy. This image reinforces and challenges two different concepts as it relates to pregnancy. First, it challenges the belief that women crave weird and unhealthy food during pregnancy, which can be true but overexaggerated. The public rarely sees pregnant women eating “normal” foods in sitcom and on the news. On the other hand, it reinforces the idea women need to eat healthy during pregnancy to reduce complications. Personally, I think the picture depicts the ideal pregnant women according to doctor’s standards, which isn’t always realistic. Many pregnant women don’t participate in healthy eating habits all the time or exercise regularly because sometimes life gets in the way.
