Historical Changes in Reproduction in Asia: Factors associated with Medicalization and Impacts on Women's Health

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23401043
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 海外学術
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology
• Research Institution: Nara Women's University
• Principal Investigator: MATSUOKA Etsuko 奈良女子大学, 生活環境科学系, 教授 (10183948)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KOHAMA Masako 日本大学, 文理学部, 教授 (10304560) ; SHIMAZAWA Kyoko 神戸市看護大学, 看護学部, 准教授 (90381920)
• Research Collaborator: YOU Ki 東京大学, 非常勤講師
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 医療化 / 出産 / アジア / 家族計画 / リプロダクティブ・ヘルス / 助産師

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Modernization of a society brings about the idea that reproduction should be controlled. But there are multiple ways toward modernization. China and Korea are good examples of "compressed modernity" where rapid institutionalization and medicalization of birth have occurred in a very short period of time. Meanwhile South Asian countries such as Indonesia and Laos show a different path where a movement from home to hospital is relatively slow. In the latter regions a wide range of birth rituals are still practiced.
Based on the observation and the research data, it is hypothesized that factors encouraging medicalization of birth are the underuse of midwifery skills accompanied by weak midwifery organization as a professional body, and less attention to women's decision -making ability. The effect of medicine on women's health can be ambivalent, as it saves life of mother and baby by way of cesarean section, while its overuse can be harmful to women's health.

Free Research Field

文化人類学