Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, UK.
Soc Sci Med. 2010 Nov;71(10):1780-7. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.07.026. Epub 2010 Aug 5.
This paper deals with the health seeking behaviour of childless rural poor and urban middle class women in Bangladesh. Data for this study were collected from a northern district of Bangladesh named Mymensing, using various qualitative methods including life histories, in-depth interviews, and key-informant interviews The study shows that social class and the geographical location of the childless women determine their health seeking behaviour. Local healers in the informal sector were found to be the most popular health service option among the rural childless women. The factors for utilising them included low costs, the gender of the provider (with same-sex providers being preferred), having a shared explanatory model with the healers, and easy availability. Unlike their rural counterparts, urban childless women predominantly seek expensive Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) treatment which is available only in the formal sector, in private services. However, despite their affiliation with modern treatment, urban childless women still believe, like their rural counterparts, that the remedy for childlessness ultimately depends on God. As a result, in addition to biomedical treatment, many return to or simultaneously pursue various traditional, spiritual or folk treatments. It was found in this study that in Bangladesh, where fertility control is the main focus of health policy, childless women are excluded from mainstream discussions on women's health. Consequently the childless women have to suffer in various ways as a result of their health seeking behaviour.
本文探讨了孟加拉国农村贫困无子女女性和城市中产阶级无子女女性的就医行为。本研究的数据来自孟加拉国一个名为迈门辛的北部地区，采用了多种定性方法，包括生活史、深入访谈和关键知情人访谈。研究表明，社会阶层和无子女女性的地理位置决定了她们的就医行为。在农村地区，无子女女性最常选择非正规部门的当地治疗师，原因包括费用低、治疗师的性别（同性治疗师更受欢迎）、与治疗师具有共同的解释模式以及易于获得。与农村无子女女性不同，城市无子女女性主要寻求昂贵的辅助生殖技术（ART）治疗，这种治疗只能在正规部门的私人服务中获得。然而，尽管她们与现代治疗方法有关联，但与农村无子女女性一样，城市无子女女性仍然相信，解决不孕问题最终取决于上帝。因此，除了生物医学治疗外，许多人会返回或同时寻求各种传统、精神或民间治疗。本研究发现，在孟加拉国，生育控制是卫生政策的主要重点，但无子女女性被排除在关于妇女健康的主流讨论之外。因此，无子女女性由于她们的就医行为而遭受各种痛苦。
