Traveling Companions

The Burial of the Placenta in Niger

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2098321
AutoresBarbara M Cooper (0000-0002-5136-8783, autor de correspondencia)
Año2019
Volumen62
Número2
Páginas127-148
Fecha de publicación2019-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAfrican Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-0206 • E-ISSN: 1555-2462
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/asr.2018.17
OpenAlexW2947005002
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas23

This article, part of a historical study of childbirth in the Sahel, draws upon oral interviews, ethnographic materials, and studies of midwifery to explore placenta burial in Niger. In the region the placenta is often referred to as the "traveling companion" that ushers the new human from one world to the next. Only through proper respect toward the placenta by means of careful burial can a woman's future fertility be protected. The importance of protecting a woman's future reproductive capacity accounts for both the centrality of this ritual to childbirth and for the appeal of the ritual expertise of elderly "traditional birth attendants" despite access to bio-medically trained midwives. Protecting a vulnerable parturient mother from the envy of those (such as co-wives) who might "tie up" her womb is an integral part of the process of childbirth. Appropriate placenta burial orchestrated by a woman's therapy management group makes good on the cyclical intergenerational entrustment through which ancestors and descendants endure in a cycle linking birth and death, planting, and burial. "Traditional" rituals bear marks of major shifts in the agricultural economy, rapid urbanization, and ongoing adoption and reinterpretation of Islam. Multi-generational interviews reveal that across a broad range of ethnicities, status groups, and educational profiles, women in Niger share a concern for proper placenta burial. This approach to preserving women's reproductive health and fertility is shared by adjacent neighbors, generations, and ethnicities

Biology · Childbirth · Economic growth · Economics · Ethnic group · Fertility · Geography · Obstetrics · Placenta · Population · Pregnancy · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Urbanization · Anthropology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Gender Studies · Global Maternal and Child Health · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma