Abstract

PAIVA DIAS-SCOPEL, Raquel  and  SCOPEL, Daniel. Who Are the Munduruku Midwives? Medical Pluralism and Self-Care in Home Delivery among the Indigenous People of Amazonas, Brazil.Translated byMauricio Pardo Rojas. Desacatos [online]. 2018, n.58, pp.16-33. ISSN 2448-5144.

Based on the ethnography on pregnancy and delivery among the Munduruku, we observed that knowledge regarded as traditional is not in fact restricted to specialists but rather shared among many people in the family, particularly elderly women, who may or may not be viewed as midwives. The work provided by Munduruku elderly women and midwives takes place in a setting of growing participation of health professionals, which does not take the form of a simple antagonism between the traditional and biomedical modes of care, implying interaction among social actors who have the potential to promote knowledge exchange. At the same time, indigenous practices are radically different from the biomedical paradigm and are perceived as mandatory to ensure the health of both the baby and the family.*

Keywords : South American indians; ethnography; home delivery; medical pluralism; midwives.

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