Antropological interpretation of pregnancy, birth and puerpery

Abstract

Introduction: It is legitimate to establish sociocultural approaches to the interpretation of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium. Recognizing that pregnancy and everything around it is encompassed within a social and cultural context is to admit that it can not and should not be reduced to merely biological or medical.

Objective: it is to demonstrate that in pregnancy, delivery and puerperium women are not only governed by medical-biological conditions but also experience a strong cultural influence transmitted from generation to generation by their own society.

Methods: Bibliographical review of ethnographic studies using pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium, anthropology, culture, rituals and traditions; with dates between 1990 and 2016.

Results: From these studies it is shown that pregnancy and childbirth are universal processes in terms of the physiology of the female body; however, they never occur as a purely biological process, but are culturally molded, occurring in different ways in each society and in different social groups

Conclusion: It is necessary to articulate the different traditional medical systems with the official health system in order to reduce mortality, morbidity and disability in poor and marginalized populations; to be implemented this recommendation must be based on a principle of equity and mutual respect to different cultures, in order to bring the differences closer.