Crucial Contributions

Scelza, Brooke A.; Hinde, Katie

doi:10.1007/s12110-019-09356-2

Cited by 37 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 158 publications

(189 reference statements)

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“…A growing body of evidence from across non-western, collectivist societies reveals the culturally designated role of these experienced, older women as newborn advisors and caregivers. Unfortunately, at the global level, newborn research, policies and interventions continue to focus primarily on medical technologies and services, 61 to a lesser extent on mothers while giving little attention to intrahousehold newborn strategies in which grandmothers are key components of families' sociocultural operating systems. 4 Research identified from 70 cultural contexts across Africa, Asia and Latin America reveals significant commonalities regarding core roles played by grandmothers with newborns, while their culture-specific BMJ Global Health practices can vary greatly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grandmothers — a neglected family resource for saving newborn lives

Aubel¹

2021

BMJ Glob Health

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Across the globe, the well-being of newborns is significantly influenced by the knowledge and practices of family members, yet global health policies and interventions primarily focus on strengthening health services to save newborn lives. Predominant approaches to promote newborn survival in non-western cultures across the Global South are based on a western, nuclear family model and ignore the roles of caregivers within wider family systems, whose attitudes and practices are determined by culturally prescribed strategies. In this paper, I review evidence of a neglected facet of newborn care, the role and influence of senior women or grandmothers.Based on a family systems frame, I reviewed research from numerous settings in Africa, Asia and Latin America that provides insight into family roles related to newborn care, specifically of grandmothers. I identified primarily published studies which provide evidence of grandmothers’ role as culturally designated and influential newborn advisors to young mothers and direct caregivers. Research from all three continents reveals that grandmothers play similar core roles in newborn care while their culturally specific practices vary. This review supports two main conclusions. First, future newborn research should be conceptualised within a family systems framework that reflects the structure and dynamics of non-western collectivist cultures. Second, newborn interventions should aim not only to strengthen health services but also influential family caregivers, particularly grandmothers and the indigenous social support networks of which they are a part, in order to improve family-level newborn practices and save newborn lives.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grandmothers — a neglected family resource for saving newborn lives

Aubel¹

2021

BMJ Glob Health

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“…Today, Himba are becoming increasingly market-integrated, although communities vary in their distance to town, proximity to the main road and participation in the cash economy [ 50 , 51 ]. Most Himba women continue to give birth in the community, and many return to their natal homes from late pregnancy until 1–6 months after birth in order to obtain help and care from their maternal kin [ 52 , 53 ]. Women’s mothers commonly act as midwives, provide support in learning to breastfeed and oversee postpartum care.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All models included varying intercepts per individual ID, per norm and per village, and population-level effects for age, age-corrected parity and a dummy variable indicating whether or not the participant’s mother was alive. This last variable was included because mothers often act as midwives and are important sources of advice, knowledge and help during the perinatal period [ 52 , 53 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adoption of outgroup norms provides evidence for social transmission in perinatal care practices among rural Namibian women

Hagen

Scelza

2020

Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health

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Background and objectives How do new ideas spread in social groups? We apply the framework of cultural evolution theory to examine what drives change in perinatal care norms among Himba women in the Kunene region of Namibia. Access to formal medical care is on the rise in this region, and medical workers regularly visit communities to promote WHO-recommended perinatal care practices. This study investigates how various forms of social transmission affect women’s uptake of medical recommendations concerning perinatal care. Methodology Based on interviews with one hundred Himba mothers, we used Bayesian multi-level logistical regression models to examine how perceptions of group preferences, prestige ascribed to outgroup conformers, interaction with the outgroup, and access to resources affect norm adoption. Results Women who perceive medical recommendations as common in their group prefer, plan and practice these recommendations more often themselves. We observed a shift towards medical recommendations regarding birth location and contraception use that was in line with conformity bias predictions. Practices that serve as cultural identity markers persist in the population. Conclusions and implications Norm changes, and the cultural evolutionary processes that can lead to them, are not uniform, either in process or pace. Empirical studies like this one provide important examples of how these changes reflect local culture and circumstance, and are critical for better understanding the models that currently predominate in cultural evolution work. These cases can also help bridge the gap between evolutionary anthropology and public health by demonstrating where promotion and prevention campaigns might be most effective. Lay summary The recent promotion of WHO-recommended perinatal care practices in Namibia provides an opportunity to empirically study norm change using a cultural evolution framework. We found women adopt medical recommendations when they believe these are common in their social group. Local norms that were not discouraged persisted in the study group.

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“…However, the genetic component of this project is just one among many methods and topics the project is focused on. Using ethnographic, demographic and health data we have published studies addressing jealousy (Scelza, 2013b), partner choice , maternal and child health (Prall & Scelza, 2017;Scelza & Hinde, 2019), sleep (Prall, Yetish, Scelza, & Siegel, 2018), marriage and inheritance patterns (Scelza, The project is longitudinal in nature, and concentrates on 40-45 households, with whom we have regular contact. At least one member of the project goes to Namibia each year, along with a team of Namibian research assistants, many of whom have worked multiple field seasons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the genetic component of this project is just one among many methods and topics the project is focused on. Using ethnographic, demographic and health data we have published studies addressing jealousy (Scelza, 2013b), partner choice (Scelza & Prall, 2018), maternal and child health (Prall & Scelza, 2017; Scelza & Hinde, 2019), sleep (Prall, Yetish, Scelza, & Siegel, 2018), marriage and inheritance patterns (Scelza, 2011; Scelza, Prall, & Levine, 2019) and parenting decisions (Scelza et al, 2020a; Scelza & Silk, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%