The medical construction of the puerperium. Analysis of obstetric bibliography

Authors

  • Clara Gilligan Universidad de Buenos Aires

Abstract

This article examines how the notion of puerperium is conceptually constructed as an object for medical intervention in handbooks and obstetrics-care guides. We approach the phenomena described in medical specialized bibliography as discursive formations, and also analyze ways to define, classify and interpret the female bodies. Far from being neutral, medical categories are crossed by cultural and historically-situated ways of understanding phenomena. These
constructions organize perception and, at the same time, delineate operational guidelines for medical care. Our analysis is mainly focused on the description of the puerperium as
“involution”, the privileged place given to breastfeeding promotion, and also in the proposal of a “control, watch over and instruct” health-care process on women during this period.

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Published

2014-11-04

Issue

Section

General

How to Cite

Gilligan, C. (2014). The medical construction of the puerperium. Analysis of obstetric bibliography. Antropología Experimental, 14. https://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/rae/article/view/1800