Birth Stories from Women in Nepal

This post is a brief look at an interesting qualitative study conducted in Nepal about gender and power dynamics within the family structure, used 15 interviews with postpartum mothers, and 8 interviews their mother in laws to understand how cultural traditions and patriarchal norms impact access to health care, birthing, and post birth responsibilities

Please access the full article for the complete methodology, implications and recommendations: Regmi, K., Smart, R., Kottler, J., (2010)Understanding Gender and Power Dynamics Within the Family: A Qualitative Study of Nepali Women’s Experience. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 31(2):191-201

Of the women selected to be interviewed, all lived below the poverty line (as defined by World Bank) and all but two were in arranged marriages. One story that came from the interviews is from a woman identified as Jethi who stated:

“I got married when I was 14 years old and after 2 years of marriage I became a mother. I have no intention to have another baby before this one goes to school, but my husband doesn’t agree. He wanted to have at least four sons. It won’t affect him even if I die during childbirth but I have to produce them because it was his wish.”

Heera, another woman interviewed in the study spoke about her limited ability to make choices regarding her health and birthing process:

“My mother-in-law has demanded that I give birth to a dozen sons. She wants some of them to work in a paddy field, some others in cutting wood, some for shepherding, and the remaining for muglan [to work abroad]. My husband said that he could be satisfied with two sons. They never asked me what I wanted. They treat me like a breeding dog.”

The article discusses that as a result of kinship hierarchies within the families interviewed, there seems to be a prevalent belief that “…men have the right to control women’s reproductive capabilities and access to health services.” However, it is acknowledged that differences in beliefs and behaviour is largely dependent on ethnicity, caste, religion, and whether the family structure is hierarchical or more egalitarian.

The women’s stories illustrate the need, and desire, for increased autonomy for women over choices regarding access to maternal health, contraceptives and education about family planning. Access is obviously a key component in encouraging women to make these decisions around births themselves, but the impact of broader societal structures cannot be ignored. Funding for programs that target the education of men and women, as well as the national and regional policy for women’s rights to maternal health care and contraceptives must be addressed. A multi-tiered approach must be taken to improve the status of women worldwide, and to ensure that family planning practices can be made to be socially acceptable across cultures.