Chapman Rachel R
Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, USA.
Med Anthropol Q. 2006 Dec;20(4):487-515. doi: 10.1525/maq.2006.20.4.487.
In this article, I examine pregnancy narratives and patterns of reproductive health seeking among women of fertile age in central Mozambique. I map the interplay between gendered economic marginalization, maternal risk perceptions, and pregnancy management strategies. By interpreting my data in light of Shona illness theories, I illuminate the ways that embodied experiences of reproductive vulnerability, risk perceptions, and social inequalities are linked: women attribute the most serious maternal complications to human- or spirit-induced reproductive threats of witchcraft and sorcery. This construction of reproductive vulnerability as social threats related to material and social competition significantly influences prenatal health seeking. Data reveal the structural and cognitive gap between biomedical constructions of risk and lay social threat perceptions. Plural health care systems are strategically utilized by women seeking to minimize both social and biological harm. On-the-ground ethnography shows that maternal health initiatives must take this plurality into full and accommodative account to achieve viable improvements in reproductive care and outcomes.
在本文中，我研究了莫桑比克中部育龄妇女的怀孕经历及寻求生殖健康的模式。我梳理了性别化经济边缘化、孕产妇风险认知与怀孕管理策略之间的相互作用。通过依据绍纳族疾病理论解读我的数据，我阐明了生殖脆弱性的具体体验、风险认知与社会不平等之间的联系：女性将最严重的孕产妇并发症归因于巫术和魔法导致的人为或精神层面的生殖威胁。这种将生殖脆弱性建构为与物质和社会竞争相关的社会威胁，对产前寻求医疗保健产生了重大影响。数据揭示了生物医学风险建构与民众社会威胁认知之间的结构和认知差距。寻求将社会和生物伤害降至最低的女性会策略性地利用多元医疗保健系统。实地人种志研究表明，孕产妇健康倡议必须充分且包容地考虑到这种多元性，以实现生殖保健及结果的切实改善。
