Indigenous Midwives and the Biomedical System among the Karamojong of Uganda: Introducing the Partnership Paradigm

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dc.citation.articleNumber670551en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleFrontiers in Sociologyen_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber6en_US
dc.contributor.authorGraham, Sallyen_US
dc.contributor.authorDavis-Floyd, Robbieen_US
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-15T21:23:50Zen_US
dc.date.available2021-07-15T21:23:50Zen_US
dc.date.issued2021en_US
dc.description.abstractCertainly there can be no argument against every woman being attended at birth by a skilled birth attendant. Currently, as elsewhere, the Ugandan government favours a biomedical model of care to achieve this aim, even though the logistical realities mitigate against its realisation. This article addresses the traditional midwives of the Karamojong tribe in North-eastern Uganda and their biosocial model of birth, and describes the need British midwife Sally Graham, who lived and worked with the Karamojong for many years, identified to facilitate “mutual accommodation” (Jordan 1993) between biomedical staff and these midwives, who previously were reluctant to refer women to the hospital that serves their catchment area due to maltreatment by the biomedical practitioners. This polarisation of service does not meet that society’s needs. We do not argue for the provision of a unilateral, top-down educational service but rather for one that collaborates between the biosocial model of the Karamojong and the biomedical model supported by government legislation. We show that such a partnership is practical, safer and harnesses the best and most economical and effective use of resources. In this article, we demonstrate the role of the TBAs/traditional midwives and show that not only is marriage of the two systems both possible and desirable, but also is essential for meeting the needs of Karamojong women. The TBA is frequently all the skilled assistance available to these women, particularly during the rainy season when roads are impassable in rural South Karamoja. Without this skilled help, the incidence of maternal and infant mortality would undoubtedly increase. Ongoing training and supervision of the TBA in best practices will ensure better care. We offer a way forward via the Portable Partnership Paradigm (PPP) that lead author Sally Graham has created, the development and characteristics of which this article describes.en_US
dc.identifier.citationGraham, Sally and Davis-Floyd, Robbie. "Indigenous Midwives and the Biomedical System among the Karamojong of Uganda: Introducing the Partnership Paradigm." <i>Frontiers in Sociology,</i> 6, (2021) Frontiers Media S.A.: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.670551.en_US
dc.identifier.digitalfsoc-06-670551en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.670551en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/111025en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherFrontiers Media S.A.en_US
dc.rightsThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_US
dc.titleIndigenous Midwives and the Biomedical System among the Karamojong of Uganda: Introducing the Partnership Paradigmen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
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