Anthropology/Sociology of Pregnancy

In the U.S. and other industrialized nations, the prevailing childbirth approach has been described as medicalized, a view in which safe birth is characterized as requiring specialized intervention. From the perspective that birth attitudes are largely enculturated, we assessed medical and natural birth attitudes among 1,467 nulliparous university women and men, expecting that pre-parents would endorse medical more strongly than natural birth attitudes. We analyzed data in subgroups categorized by sex, race, and future childbearing plans. White men and women who did not plan to have children scored significantly higher on the medical than natural birth scale whereas non-white women and men rated the natural birth scale higher. Our results reflect the complex interplay between demographics and birth philosophy and indicate the need for awareness of enculturated beliefs, particularly in developing childbirth informational campaigns to address growing evidence indicating that intensive intervention has not led to measurably increased maternal or newborn health.

Planning for a Baby:  https://youtu.be/2iwLh6XCnq8

Pregnancy with IBD: https://youtu.be/br0kciD8xJk

Motherhood with IBD: https://youtu.be/TQjt8pnMv4I


Our aim is to provide an understanding of the experience of women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who have made the transition to motherhood. A total of 22 mothers with IBD were recruited from around the United Kingdom. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis. The central concept—Blurred Lines—offers a novel frame for understanding the transition to motherhood with IBD through identifying parallels between having IBD and becoming, and being, a mother. Parallels clustered into three main themes: Need for Readiness, Lifestyle Changes, and Monitoring Personal and Physical Development. Hence, women with IBD are in some ways well prepared for the challenges of motherhood even though, as a group, they tend to restrict their reproductive choices. We recommend health professionals initiate conversations about reproduction early and provide a multidisciplinary approach to pregnancy and IBD in which women have confidence that their ongoing treatment will be integrated successfully with their maternity care.

n Tamil Nadu, the end of the first pregnancy is marked by the celebration of the valaikāppu rite. This article provides an ethnography of the rite as it is performed in rural areas by scheduled castes people. The first part will present the social context of reproduction as well as the ritual aspects of the ceremony. The second part will focus on the social interactions in which the performance takes place. The valaikāppu ceremony will thus be seen as a prism to study various symbolic, medical, social and economical aspects of motherhood in contemporary Indian society.

Keywords: Pregnancy; Ritual; Maternal Health; Reproduction; Tamil Nadu

"Why feminist? Why postmodernist? A preface
Halah Afshar, giving a talk entitled 'Ferninisms, Islamophobia and Identities' at the Feminist and Women's Studies Association Conference, UK (2006), emphasised her sense of having a mobile and shifting self-identity (though she also felt that this was being undermined by an ignorant post-9/ 11 reductionism which equates 'Muslim' with 'terrorist' - a terrible new wave of Islamophobia). Her own sense of self, she suggested, was fluid: in York she was the 'exotic Persian'; in Turkey she became the infidel- the 'sinner' (because her feminist approach to the Koran, which emphasises that intermediaries who dictate how it should be understood are themselves sinning, was seen as 'heretical'). On a school day she is 'mum', and on arriving at the conference in Bradford she was, to the ticket collector, she thought, merely 'another bloody Paki'. Of course, some of this is supposition and rather passive in tone; she is seen and she is interpreted. None of us knows for sure how we are being viewed unless told, but this is how she sees herself: as having multiple identities constantly changing in different contexts. Arguably, postmodernism has enabled us to conceptualise ourselves differently and in a more fragmented, multifaceted manner. This need not be conceptualised as a passive process, and we may emphasise our different identities in different contexts, and different locations may invoke different aspects of ourselves (Hogan and Pink 2010). "

Eating disorders in pregnancy can have profound effects upon both fetus and mother. Critical periods of fetal development may be altered in the presence of maternal undernutrition, and the psychological impact of pregnancy may be severe for the mother. This essay explores how midwives can best support women with eating disorders throughout the antenatal period.

I wanted to write this review because I want to share my joy with the world. Since following the Pregnancy Miracle program, I’ve truly gained a new life.
Two years ago, my husband John and I decided it was time to make a baby. I was 29 years old, so I thought I would get pregnant right away. Boy, was I wrong…
We diligently tried to conceive for about 6 months, but nothing happened. For the first time, I began to wonder if something was wrong: Why couldn’t I get pregnant?

Adolescent pregnancy has been a common problem not only in the Philippines but also in most countries of the world, may it be developing or first world. In this study, the prevalence of adolescent pregnancy was determined throughout the 15 barangays in El Salvador City using a correlational-descriptive approach. A total of 497 respondents were taken into consideration. The majority of the respondents were 16-18 years old at the time of the study and came from barangay Molugan and Poblacion. Adolescent pregnancy was also determined to be at 32.39% or 161 out of the 497 respondents which is relatively high and comparable to the neighboring countries in Asia. Correlational statistics was also employed to determine the correlation between prevalence of adolescent pregnancy and family history of adolescent pregnancy. A range of strong negative, no relationship, strong positive, to negligible relationship was shown in all 15 barangays. Six out of the fifteen barangays showed positive relationship while five barangays showed negligible relationship. Overall, there was a negligible relationship between the variables studied. This supports the idea that adolescent pregnancy is a multifactorial problem which requires multifaceted intervention strategies and approaches to minimize adolescent childbearing risks. Furthermore, it is recommended that various steps should be taken to develop pregnancy prevention intervention programs targeting young women according to maternal and sibling adolescent pregnancy histories, increase awareness campaign in schools and public places on the risks of adolescent pregnancies, and lastly to improve childhood intervention and youth development programs for reducing unintended and unplanned adolescent pregnancy.

When a new baby arrives among the Beng people of West Africa, they see it not as being born, but as being reincarnated after a rich life in a previous world. Far from being a tabula rasa, a Beng infant is thought to begin its life filled with spiritual knowledge. But how do these beliefs affect the ways the Beng raise their children?
In this unique and engaging ethnography of babies, Alma Gottlieb explores how Beng religious ideology affects every aspect of their childrearing practices, from bathing infants to protecting them from disease to teaching them how to crawl and walk. She shows too how widespread poverty among the Beng sets practical limits on these practices. A mother of two, Gottlieb includes moving discussions of how her experiences among the Beng changed the way she saw her own parenting. Throughout the book she also draws telling comparisons between Beng and Euro-American parenting, bringing home just how deeply culture matters to the ways we all raise our children.
Anyone interested in the culture of infancy, and vice versa, will enjoy The Afterlife Is Where We Come From.

With reference to the works of Charles Darwin, legal commentators and psychiatrists, this article explores the meaning of maternity in the Victorian and Edwardian periods with particular reference to puerperal mania, puerperal melancholia and infanticide (‘puerperal’ relating to childbirth or the period immediately following) . It illustrates how parturition was regarded as the fulcrum of women’s instability. ‘Puerperal insanity’ was a ‘catch-all’ phase used to describe a wide variety of reactions to pregnancy and childbirth. These ranged from the understandable despair of a young girl experiencing an illegitimate pregnancy, to the mother of ten infants who hallucinated because she breastfed whilst malnourished. The essay illustrates that some women clearly suffering from postpartum microbial infections were defined as having puerperal mania ; their feverish delirium was mistaken for maniacal insanity. The sanctions for maniacal behaviour, or understandable chagrin if vigorously expressed, were often very harsh and included institutionalisation, the use of restraints (chains or straitjackets) and seclusion. Puerperal melancholia was particularly associated with exhaustion, the mental cruelty of husbands and poverty. As Bucknill and Tuke’s remarks will make clear, parturition was a time when women were particularly at risk of being defined as insane.

Pregnancy is considered a feminine experience in mainstream Canadian culture. Babies identified as female at birth are expected to grow up to become feminine heterosexual mothers. This research considers the desires, choices, and experiences of individuals who were identified as female at birth, but who do not identify as feminine heterosexual women; this dissertation focuses on the reproductive desires, choices, and experiences of butch lesbians, transmen, and genderqueer individuals in British Columbia. Three methods and two distinct populations formed this research. Participant observation was conducted in 21 cities across southern BC. Questionnaires were completed by 28 health care professionals (HCPs), and by 46 butch lesbian, transmen, and genderqueer (BTQ) individuals. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 HCPs, 8 BTQ individuals who had experienced at least one successful pregnancy, and 4 BTQ individuals who had either experienced or been diagnosed with a condition linked to infertility. What I found, is that for many BTQ individuals, reproduction associated with the female body (ie: pregnancy and breastfeeding) is not exclusively considered a feminine desire or experience. In fact, what I discovered is that BTQ individuals who experience pregnancy and breastfeeding explicitly challenge the cultural fetish associating femininity with reproduction (including pregnancy, breastfeeding, mothering, and fertility). Thus, I highlight not only the typically ignored desire and achievement of pregnancy of BTQ individuals, but also how BTQ individuals have experienced breastfeeding, how some BTQ parents raise queerlings, and how some BTQ individuals have negotiated diagnoses and experiences of infertility. Overall, I highlight the unique and various expectations and experiences that butch lesbians, transmen, and genderqueer individuals have regarding their ‘female’ (and potential) biological reproduction. In the end, I hope that by presenting the diverse reproductive experiences, desires, and choices of BTQ individuals, that I can foster more of an understanding of these experiences, desires, choices, and individuals, and thus challenge the cultural fetish that links femininity with ‘female’-associated reproduction. Moreover, I offer recommendations for health care professionals in an effort to foster more understanding in BTQ health care, as well as help to facilitate more queer competent health care professionals.

L’Égypte antique est une civilisation qui s’est distinguée, à maintes reprises, dans les avancées techniques à une époque particulièrement ancienne, comparativement aux autres civilisations contemporaines. Les auteurs grecs et romains s’en sont d’ailleurs fait l’écho dès le Ve siècle avant notre ère, notamment en matière de médecine, et nombre de traitements ont essaimé de la terre des pharaons vers la Grèce et l’Italie antiques. L’un d’eux concerne un test de grossesse qui, si l’on en croit les écrits égyptiens, permettait non seulement de dire si la femme était enceinte, mais également de prédire le sexe de l’enfant à naître.

During the medieval and early modern periods in Britain, pregnancy and successful birth required overcoming numerous natural risks. In addition to these, however, was also a plethora of supernatural hazards which, according to popular belief, needed to be managed; most notably, the unwanted attention of fairies.
In early modern folklore, fairies are often characterised as ambiguous creatures who can be benevolent if they so choose – but who can also be selfish, vindictive, and cruel, especially if a human has something that they desire. And, as folklorist Katharine Briggs notes: ‘The thing that everyone knows about fairies is that they covet human children and steal them whenever they can’ (1967: 115). Thus pregnant women and newborn babies were considered particularly vulnerable to the attention of supernatural creatures, and there is a large corpus of recorded oral legends of pregnant women being abducted by fairies or troll-like creatures, and of newborns being exchanged for babies from the fairy realm, known as changelings.
This paper considers the reasons behind such notions, examining why pregnant women and newborn babies in the British Isles were believed to be at particular risk from the supernatural realm. The paper also details the precautions taken to prevent abductions and changeling exchanges, which usually involved the incorporation of Christian symbols into folk rituals and apotropaic devices. Concealing pregnancies lest they be noticed by the fairies; placing a knife and Bible in the woman’s bed during childbirth; and laying a four-leaf clover in a newborn’s cradle are just some of the methods employed to prevent abductions, and they shed a different light on the various practical preparations soon-to-be parents had to make to ensure a safe pregnancy and birth.

For thousands of years, men have struggled to establish their supremacy. At first, they used spirits to secure for themselves a function in a natural world that seemed to have taken sides with the feminine. Eventually, they created an all-mighty divinity, and established their status as second to none other than that highest of all authority.

Sailing through history, we show that the way procreation was perceived has determined how men and women positioned themselves in the universe. It has wielded consequences that have deeply affected our evolution, from the primal vision of an all-encompassing natural world in which Mother Nature represented the source of all life, to the subjection of nature and woman, with God the Father sitting at the summit of the creation.

This emphasis on gender and nature brings into perspective the current social and economic resurgence of women and the new attitude towards environment that needs to be protected from our own deeds. These intricate leitmotifs make us witness a turning point in our history.

This paper addresses the great diversity of female figurines produced during the Christian period (iv–vii ce) in Egypt, from Aswan to Karanis to the Abu Mina pilgrimage city. While not documented in any texts, by their sheer number the figurines offer important evidence of local religious practices performed under the aegis of Christianity (e.g., at saints’ shrines) yet without any ostensible connection to Christian liturgy or mythology. Their usage seems to have been predominantly votive, signifying a desired procreative body to deposit in hope, while the diversity of figurines points to an autochthonous, rather than imported or imposed, ritual tradition. The paper, part of a larger project on the local sites of Christianization, uses these figurines and their forms to reconstruct the iconographic strategies of the workshop, the ritual procedures of the client or ritual subject (at shrine or tomb), and the nature of domestic altars as stages for images.

Commercial* surrogacy* is* a* challenging* contemporary* issue* that* raises* various* concerns*
because* it* commodifies* the* female* body* in* a* new* way.* It* is* now* becoming* increasingly*
common*for*couples*from*the*Global*North*to*seek*out*gestational*surrogates*in*the*Global*
South.* These* transnational* commercial* surrogacy* arrangements* raise* questions* about* the*
surrogates’*rights*to*bodily*integrity,*as*well*as*patient*rights*and*health*policy,*immigration*
and*citizenship,*race,*power,*gender,*consent,*and*agency*(Pande*2010,*Bailey*2011).*I*explore*
these* questions* in* greater* detail* by* reviewing* the* literature* on* the* rights* and* bioethics*
discourse* of* transnational* surrogacy* in* the* Indian* context.* I* also* examine* contemporary*
issues* concerning* the* intersectionality* of* transnational* commercial* surrogacy* from* a*
feminist* perspective,* especially* the* commodification* of* the* “othered”* reproductive* female*
body.

Adolescent pregnancy has been a common problem not only in the Philippines but also in most countries of the world, may it be developing or first world. In this study, the prevalence of adolescent pregnancy was determined throughout the 15 barangays in El Salvador City using a correlational-descriptive approach. A total of 497 respondents were taken into consideration. The majority of the respondents were 16-18 years old at the time of the study and came from barangay Molugan and Poblacion. Adolescent pregnancy was also determined to be at 32.39% or 161 out of the 497 respondents which is relatively high and comparable to the neighboring countries in Asia. Correlational statistics was also employed to determine the correlation between prevalence of adolescent pregnancy and family history of adolescent pregnancy. A range of strong negative, no relationship, strong positive, to negligible relationship was shown in all 15 barangays. Six out of the fifteen barangays showed positive rela...

This paper examines the significance of the chemical pregnancy as a new reproductive experience in the United States today. Early pregnancy testing initially detects the presence of hCG, the so-called pregnancy hormone, but later testing then gives negative results or there are other signs that the pregnancy is not developing. What a woman might have described as a “late” period becomes recognized as an early miscarriage or a chemical pregnancy. Building on feminist scholarship in anthropology, sociology, and science and technology studies, the chemical pregnancy is discussed in terms of the contradictions and complications of technology, reproduction, and mothering. The chemical pregnancy initially comes into view as a natural, not-new experience that technology apparently has rendered knowable. Yet, on closer examination, it is evident that the chemical pregnancy is a cultural “fix” for the uncertainties that women face at an historical moment when there is little tolerance for the ambiguities and ambivalences that surround pregnancies. The chemical pregnancy is discussed as an experience of and metaphor for disrupted reproduction and disrupted mothering. The opportunities that reproductive technologies seem to offer are not always available or accessible; at the same time, they become new responsibilities for mothers.

Pregnancy is a phenomenon strongly associated with being female; at the same time, it involves dramatic change to the physical body in ways that challenge conventional cultural associations with femininity. For this reason, there is an enormous amount of effort in shoring up the cultural signification of the pregnant body as female and feminine, from representations of pregnancy in popular media, to maternity wear, to the discourse produced by and about pregnant women. Although necessarily temporary, being pregnant is more than a “condition” – it becomes an identity, and one that is bounded and even policed by gender expectations. This essay considers the ways in which the pregnant transgender body is read as either gender normative (cismale) and fat, or gender transgressive (pregnant butch) and abject, effectively rendering trans pregnancy invisible.

The main objective of this study was to assess awareness of danger
signs of pregnancy and its associated factors in Mekelle public
hospitals, 2014.
Institutional based cross sectional study was conducted among 422
pregnant mothers. Data was collected using interviewer administered
questionnaire; it was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16.
The data were presented using texts, graphs and tables.
Out of the total participants of this study 79.6% mothers had
information about danger signs of pregnancy from which 61.9%
mothers had information about vaginal bleeding followed by sudden
gush of fluid before labor which was mentioned by 41.9% of
respondents. Severe unusual abdominal pain was the least known
danger signs as mentioned by 19 % of mothers. The main source of
information for the danger signs was health personnel and
Negligence was the main reason for not having good awareness about
danger signs of pregnancy.
Therefore, health extension workers should strengthen their
awareness creation activities; community mobilization and health
education should be considered with policy makers and other
interested organizations.

U ovom se članku obrađuje tema trudnoće i poroda kao predmeta istraživanja antropologije. Predstavlja se antropologija trudnoće i poroda kao poddisciplina unutar šireg područja medicinske antropologije i ističu se aktualna područja istraživanja i teme kojima se bavi. Trudnoća i porod značajne su teme za antropologiju kao holističku znanost i ovaj se rad osvrće na odabrane teme antropoloških uvida u trudnoću i porod. Članak obrađuje trudnoću i porod kao važne antropološke obrede prijelaza i osvrće se na medikalizaciju trudnoće i poroda u zapadnoj medicini. Odlika je antropološke perspektive da poštuje drugačije načine poimanja svijeta, a antropolog se nastoji defamilijazirati i od vlastitog kulturnog konteksta, kako bi u ga u konačnici bolje razumio. Može li takva specifična antropološka perspektiva pridonijeti nastojanjima za poboljšanje maternalne skrbi u Hrvatskoj?

This article examines Jacques Derrida's views on hospitality in relation to unplanned or unintended pregnancy. Derrida distinguishes between 'invitation' and 'visitation' and associates 'pure', 'true', or 'unconditional' hospitality with visitation. In terms of intended or expected pregnancies, the unborn other is an invited or welcomed guest. In case of unexpected or unwanted pregnancies, the foetus is as an uninvited guest or even an intruder. Nevertheless, for Derrida, hospitality and responsibility impose an infinite demand on the host regardless of whether the other is invited or uninvited. Thus, considering 'unconditional hospitality', a person has no 'right' to decide on their pregnancy. However, Derrida refers to the need for 'negotiation' between unconditional and conditional hospitality. This translates, as this article emphasises, into the scope for each pregnant person's individual circumstances to be taken into consideration.

Cet article vise à rendre compte des facons dont des femmes enceintes construisent des liens affectifs avec leur fœtus dans des contextes de grossesses considérées à risque d’accouchement avant terme. Il explore les implications pragmatiques de l'ambiguïté relationnelle qui marque deux figures progressivement construites dans le discours biomédical comme distinctes : le corps maternel et le corps fœtal. Sur la base de récits de femmes ayant vécu des expériences de ce type, il rend compte des manières dont elles se sont mises en relation avec leur fœtus et avec les professionnels qu’elles côtoyaient. Des grossesses sous étroite surveillance rythmées par des événements qui bouleversent les prédictions quant àleur aboutissement ont contraint ces femmes àrepenser leur relation à leur fœtus à plusieurs reprises. Elles ont appris à s’attacher àleur fœtus de multiples manières : en identifiant chez ce dernier des signes de « volontéde vie », en acceptant de soumettre leur corps àde multiples interventions visant à « sauver » leur fœtus, mais également en acceptant la perte et la mort de ce dernier.

This article deals with the issue of creating affective bonds between high-risk pregnant women and their fetus. It addresses pragmatic issues linked to the construction of the maternal and the fetal bodies as two distinct entities. Based on several interviews with women who experienced preterm deliveries, it examines how they engage with their fetus and with professionals surrounding them. Experiencing their pregnancy under constant medical supervision, dealing with events that challenge their pregnancy predictions, these women are regularly led to reconsider their relationship to their fetus. They learn to engage with their fetus in many ways: by identifying signs that it “wants to live”, by agreeing to submit their body to multiple surgical interventions to “save” their fetus, but also by letting go and accepting the death of the latter.

This paper accounts for the rise of a monolithic contemporary post-feminist pregnant bridal identity that is upheld and sold as the “ultimate” pleasure of femininity in Australia, the US, and the UK. I shall critically analyse the enfranchisement of the contemporary pregnant bride as a “new” consumer identity using the purchase of a maternity wedding dress as a key example. I argue that as pregnancy is already an experience deeply embedded in the marketplace, with this comes the added pressure for pregnant women to use bridal maternity clothing to conform to normative feminine bodily ideals. This claim is supported by interviews with a sample of Australian pregnant brides as part of a longitudinal qualitative study of pregnancy and body image. I conclude that as much as the pregnant bride challenges convention, in many ways, paradigms of femininity, in this context, remain ultimately unchanged and unchallenged.

Viewing the wider collective rituals of childbirth as liminal is helpful in understanding the highly contested nature of many cultural practices. With English & Irish historical examples, this essay will argue that it has been to the advantage of women that they maintain a wide range of post-partum taboos and rituals. The themes of post-partum pollution and female power are developed in the context of wet-nursing and the withholding of colostrum.
‘Churching’, evident in the medieval period in Britain, continues to this very day, though in a simplified form. The colostrum taboo and ideas about the transmission of personality via breast milk are very ancient ideas, now entirely discredited in a British context, though to breastfeed another’s baby is now socially taboo. Ideas about how the passions of the nurse could spoil her milk and cause diseases in the child were still widespread in the nineteenth century, and there are resonances of these ideas evident today in beliefs about how pregnant women’s emotions might damage her developing foetus.
Theoretically, this article illustrates how anthropological ideas can enrich our understanding of cultural history.

In the interests of promoting the health and wellbeing of their foetuses, pregnant women are subject to imperatives which expect them to engage in an intense ascetic regime of self-regulation and disciplining of their bodies. This review article draws upon scholarship from the humanities and social sciences on pregnancy, foetal personhood and risk to explain why, at this particular moment in the history of western societies, pregnant women and their foetuses are such potent focal points for regulation, monitoring and control. It is argued that in recent years the foetus has become fetishised as a precious body to the exclusion of the pregnant woman's needs and rights. Biomedical technologies have played an important role in the construction of the contemporary foetal body and the meanings which surround it, as have the discourses and practices of neoliberal politics and risk society.

Si l’on en juge par l’abondance et la qualité de ses histoires de fantômes, la Chine est un des pays les plus hantés qui soient ! Parmi les dieux chinois, beaucoup sont d’anciens fantômes qui ne reçurent un culte qu’après avoir dûment intimidé les vivants. Dans la sphère littéraire, qui fourmille littéralement de spectres, ce sont les revenantes qui eurent surtout la faveur des écrivains : poétesses fantômes et ombres de femmes jadis aimées ont ainsi nourri bien des oeuvres nostalgiques, et le thème de la rencontre d’un jeune homme et d’une belle et spectrale inconnue a donné naissance à certaines des plus originales histoires d’amour. La tradition orale colporte, quant à elle, une vision moins optimiste de la rencontre avec la revenante : de jeunes suicidées cherchent ainsi à convaincre d’autres femmes de se pendre à leur tour pour prendre leur place dans le monde des morts intranquilles. Ce texte développe, à travers la lecture de contes populaires modernes, le thème, moins bien connu, des femmes mortes en couches. Si l’on voit certaines de ces revenantes chercher à provoquer le trépas d’une parturiente, dans d’autres histoires, ces mères fantômes useront de toute la force de leur restant de vie pour que leurs enfants, sortant de leur tombe comme d’une matrice, puissent voir le jour.

The novel coronavirus is profoundly impacting population health and welfare across the globe, forcing patients, medical providers, and healthcare systems to find ways to rapidly adjust to COVID-19’s complex risks and constraints. The crisis has led to especially severe effects and outcomes for vulnerable persons and healthcare systems.

Women’s sexual and reproductive (SRH) and maternal and newborn (MNH) health, already badly impacted by inattention and disinvestment in many parts of the world, are now even more dangerously deprioritzed and neglected due to the effects of social distancing, lockdowns, and overloaded health systems. Equally worrying is the growing evidence that women in better-resourced settings such as the United States are now also facing similar gaps in care, and are more likely to experience the pandemic-linked health hazards and harms that result.

With many of COVID-19’s short and long-term effects for SRH/MNH still poorly understood, medical anthropologists are uniquely positioned to help fill in the gaps and answer emerging questions about the pandemic’s impacts on women’s health and healthcare services and systems. Not least, our work holds the power to raise necessary attention concerning social, political, and organizational efforts to protect women and newborns from the worst of the pandemic, especially those made most vulnerable by the crisis.

In this spirit, the first and second rounds of our online special collection gathered together the work of medical anthropologists whose research, advocacy and activism concern COVID-19’s impacts on SRH/MNH.

By adopting critical and action-oriented approaches, the contributors provide compelling insights into the contextual forces and dynamics at stake in health system and community-level responses to the pandemic as they draw women and their newborns closer to care, further estrange them from the services they need, or, under the pretext of protocol adherence and risk-reduction, separate babies from their mothers. More than this, they show how the pandemic’s challenges are variably experienced, with different cultural, political and geographic sites giving rise to unique forms of need and vulnerability. We see that women of color, those with lower socioeconomic status, and those in under-resourced settings face some of the most challenging circumstances every day, but especially in these times. Their already reduced access to healthcare services is amplified and reinforced by limited access to privilege that would allow them to access alternative care or forms of support.

Autor w swoim artykule wychodzi od mesjańskich nadziei związanych z rodzeniem dzieci. Przeciwstawia entuzjastycznemu spodziewaniu się zbawienia związanego z urodzeniem dziecka koncepcję mesjanizmu pustynnego Derridy, czyli oczekiwania pozbawionego horyzontu oczekiwania. Następnie ukazuje dziecko, jako niosące wraz ze swoim pojawieniem się obietnicę śmierci, wykorzystuję grecki mit o Kronosie oraza filozoficzne rozważania Georgesa Bataille'a. W kolejnej części Autor koncentruje się na zjawisku utraconych wizji przyszłości, które nazywa obsoletami nowoczesności i stara się wyjaśnić współczesną niechęć do tworzenia idealnego świata jutra. Ostatnią część artykułu stanowi interpretacja "Huby" (2014) w reżyserii Anki i Wilhelma Sasnalów, która staje się w tym kontekście próbą powstrzymywania się od przymusu (re)produkcji.