Understanding the meaning and role of gifts given to Ugandan mothers in maternity care settings

The help they give when they've seen how different you are

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2249158
AutoresSarah Rudrum (0000-0002-7512-6914, Institute for Gender Race Sexuality and Social Justice University of British Columbia Canada, autor de correspondencia), Helen Brown (0000-0002-1095-5148, School of Nursing University of British Columbia Canada), John L Oliffe (0000-0001-9029-4003, School of Nursing University of British Columbia Canada)
Año2016
Volumen38
Número8
Páginas1318-1335
Fecha de publicación2016-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociology of Health & Illness (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0141-9889 • E-ISSN: 1467-9566
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-9566.12456
PMID27554163
OpenAlexW2513045248
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas27

The provision of gifts to new mothers in Uganda is laden with significance that varies by the social location of the giver and receiver and the context and conditions under which the gift is made available. Here, we examine the act of gift giving and receiving within a Ugandan maternity care setting, describing the connections between these material objects and social relations. A study investigating the social organisation of maternity care in post-conflict northern Uganda found that gift-giving to new mothers functioned to create a material and discursive context wherein women's desire to access these goods was leveraged to create an incentive to attend formal maternity care during pregnancy and for delivery. In this article we describe the material and discursive processes surrounding gift-giving to new mothers in this global South health care setting. This article contributes critical analyses of the function of gifts in healthcare settings as constructing shared identities, social differences and normative values about health citizenship, and an incentive politic that affects equitable access to maternity care. Drawing on intersectional theory and analysis of how specific practices function ideologically to reward or incentivise pregnant women, we integrate material culture studies into the sociology of women's reproductive health

Citizenship · Context (archaeology · Economics · Health care · Ideology · Incentive · Maternity care · Meaning (existential · Normative · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Gender Studies · Global Maternal and Child Health · Law · Medicine · Migration, Identity, and Health · Nursing · Psychology · Sex work and related issues