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WORLD ANTHROPOLOGICAL UNION

CONGRESS 2024​

Paper

Unveiling the Silent Struggles of Women in Labour Room: An Anthropological Exploration of Maternal Perspectives and Pain Endurance

presenters

    Archita Tandon

    Nationality: India

    Residence: India

    Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Presence:Face to Face/ On Site

In the labour rooms of Delhi, India, a profound anthropological insight has surfaced, 'Being a woman is more excruciating than enduring the pains of childbirth.' This research delves into the previously unheard narratives of parturients as they navigate the complex expectations surrounding the childbirth process. Their husbands, who serve as decision-makers in this context, routinely dismiss their pleas for pain relief during labour. These findings have been drawn from a clinical ethnography conducted within the labour and recovery rooms, providing insight into maternal perspectives on labour pain during natural childbirth. These women grapple with a striking lack of agency, rendering them unable to articulate their pain or participate in decision-making regarding childbirth. This pervasive lack of control persists despite the intensely personal nature of the childbirth experience. Their vulnerability arises from their financial dependence on their in-laws' household income, societal norms that cast suffering during labour as an inherent maternal duty, the conviction that enduring labour pain directly impacts their baby's health, and a deep-seated fear of social ostracization should they diverge from traditional birthing practices. Trapped between the intricacies of medical procedures and the burdens of familial expectations, these women find solace in ethnographic exchanges. Through these exchanges, they obtain a means to anonymously share their experiences with the broader world—a domain their husbands can never access.

Keywords:

Labour Pain, Ethnography, Societal Expectations, Pain Relief, Maternal Expectations