Therapeutic Navigations and Social Networking: Mozambican Women’s Quests for Fertility

Faria, Inês

doi:10.1080/01459740.2017.1417278

Cited by 10 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Very much like my respondents' therapeutic quests, I found that my fi eldwork process was also one of social navigation and situational social networks (Faria 2018;Vigh 2009). It is about trying to make the best of the opportunities that appear and manoeuvring through obstacles.…”

Section: Navigating Maputo: Plans and Changementioning

confidence: 96%

“…In this article, I look at the pragmatics of the fi eldwork process with a focus on my own personal experience. Rather than an analytical piece, as I have developed elsewhere (Faria 2018), I opt here for a more descriptive and informal tone. I argue for the relevance of fl exibility and refl exivity in fi eldwork and analytical practice, but also -following authors such as Hansjörg Dilger and colleagues (2015) for the specifi c case of medical anthropology -for the relevance of the notion that ethnographers are in a privileged position to explore, and go beyond, the crystallised division between context, the private fi eldwork experience of the researcher, and the published text of the scientist (Latour 1993).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Plans, Changes, Improvisations

Faria

2021

Anthropology in Action

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This article addresses the challenges and reflections of a junior anthropologist while developing research on the delicate topic of reproductive health and infertility in Maputo, Mozambique. Based on participant observation notes, entries in fieldwork diaries, and interviews, and assuming the character of a reflexive ethnographic account, the article concerns personal and research challenges and opportunities experienced during the preparation and development of a research project and a PhD thesis. While reflecting more broadly on processes of knowledge production, history and colonial relations, and on the writing of a scientific account, it provides insights into the pragmatics of research in medical anthropology by detailing the everyday life of doing ethnography, including networking, bureaucratic processes, boredom, the exploration of new fieldwork landscapes, and positionality dilemmas.

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Section: Navigating Maputo: Plans and Changementioning

confidence: 96%

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confidence: 99%

Plans, Changes, Improvisations

Faria

2021

Anthropology in Action

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“…Sources of support vary widely for those experiencing infertility and may include family members, friends, peers similarly affected by infertility, acquaintances, mental health professionals, medical staff and faith-based institutions (Bell, 2012;Faria, 2018;Papadatou et al, 2016;Yager et al, 2010). Even social media networks have been noted as a source of support for people considering ART (Fisher, 2013;Gezinski et al, 2018).…”

Section: Sources Of Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nor did they receive support from their homophobic family members. Mozambican women using ART reported instability in their relationships with husbands and in-laws (Faria, 2018). Fear of criticism was associated with selective disclosure of assisted reproduction (Bell, 2012;Gezinski et al, 2018), which may exacerbate feelings of social isolation and mental distress.…”

Section: Sources Of Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motherhood and assisted reproduction in a religious context: Genes, stigma and supports in Utah, United States

Gezinski¹,

Carlsen

Hawkins

2021

Health Soc Care Community

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Six percent of cisgender (i.e. not transgender) women aged 15-44 are considered infertile in the United States, and 12% are unable to carry a pregnancy to term. For those who yearn to create a family despite these circumstances, assisted reproductive technology (ART) is an often-utilised resource. Though faith-based institutions have been referenced as a source of support for involuntarily childless adults, it is unclear how religious doctrine, especially that which prizes 'traditional' gender roles and genetic parenthood, may be a catalyst for distress. More research is needed to understand how the socio-cultural environment affects those who are unable to conceive without assistance. Therefore, the purpose of this research study was to understand the lived experiences of women who have utilised assisted reproduction in a particularly pronatalist, religious cultural context in the United States. From March to September 2017, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 cisgender women who had utilised ART. Data analysis was conducted in NVivo 10 and consisted of line-by-line analysis, identifying themes, coding categories and developing matrices to uncover relationships between themes and categories. The quest for motherhood was truly a journey for the study participants who experienced rumination and self-blame due to their inability to become pregnant. This was rooted in their socio-cultural context. Thus, the study findings suggest that culture and stigma are linked with women's distress regarding their inability to become pregnant and results in distancing from other women. Genetic parenthood was prized initially, but this desire decreased over time. While past research suggests that infertility strains relationships, our study found that the turmoil of infertility and assisted reproduction actually strengthened couple relationships. Counselling was described as particularly helpful, but it is needed throughout the assisted reproduction process. The inclusion of religion and spirituality, for those who identify as such, in counselling would be beneficial.

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“…Women often were required to travel for IVF treatment and during these travels or in clinic waiting rooms, women helped each other cope emotionally with and provide information about possible treatments. These connections often served as temporary networks that dissolve once women conceive (Faria 2018).…”

Section: Agency Socialities and Narrativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women’s Experiences With Maternity Care and Medical Discourse In Florence, Italy

Wallerstedt¹

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This dissertation is based on ethnographic research in Florence, Italy. The primary focus of this research is based on a comparison of medical discourse from Italian State documents with women’s experiences during pregnancy and childbirth in Italy. Mirroring trends throughout the developed world, Italy has maintained high rates of cesarean sections since the turn of the century. Italy’s unique political and cultural history has made Tuscany one of the best regions for maternity care within a country with significant regional variability. This dissertation looks at historical and current cultural trends to understand the ways in which women experience high-quality maternity care in Florence. This dissertation interrogates women’s experiences during pregnancy and childbirth through the theoretical lenses of political philosophy, agency and practice theory, and the medicalization of reproduction. This dissertation provides new avenues through which to draw connections between these three social theories. Medical discourse in the State documents demonstrates the ways in which women’s subjectivities and experiences are erased in an effort create a population upon which it is (theoretically) easier to enact interventions. Discourse ignores women’s agency in favor of implying that doctors and healthcare professionals are far more important actors in pregnancy and childbirth. But Italian women assert their own agency against medicalized birth through their reproductive socialities. By making connections with other mothers and midwives, women find support beyond medicalized models of maternity care. Local hospitals and healthcare clinics become sites that foster reproductive sociality. Women seek out care from healthcare professionals, primarily midwives, not due to their medical competence but due to their ability to create relationships with their patients. Midwives are part of what makes hospitals the ideal place for birth; a safe haven from the potential risk of birth. This idealization of birth, however, often gives way to less than desired care, demonstrating the fractures and inconsistencies in the way midwifery-based care is perceived. These fractures and inconsistencies are also seen in how women conceive of healthcare throughout the country. Women themselves simultaneously value and devalue their own socialities. Women’s discussion of the Italian healthcare system demonstrates how deep-seated ideologies of rationalist medical behaviors and stereotypes about the South. Women afford flexibility in departing from ideal modes of birth in their own decisions, but do not afford women the same flexibility in the South. Medicalized rhetoric seeps into deep seated beliefs about the South, demonstrating that women’s own positive experiences are not always valued as a means to achieving quality healthcare. Through analyzing the connection medical discourse and women’s reproductive sociality, I demonstrate the tenuousness with which experience is valued.

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Therapeutic Navigations and Social Networking: Mozambican Women’s Quests for Fertility

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

Plans, Changes, Improvisations

Plans, Changes, Improvisations

Motherhood and assisted reproduction in a religious context: Genes, stigma and supports in Utah, United States

Women’s Experiences With Maternity Care and Medical Discourse In Florence, Italy

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