Midwife training programs in highland Guatemala

Linda Greenberg

Social Science & Medicine, 1982, vol. 16, issue 18, 1599-1609

Abstract: This paper examines the efficacy and acceptance of a government-sponsored midwife training program in two rural regions of highland Guatemala. I argue that conflicts arise primarily from the exportation of Western techniques and knowledge (some of which are already considered obsolete in our own culture) as 'scientific truths', and the dismissal of indigenous beliefs and practices as 'primitive superstitions'. Instead, I maintain that for any health intervention to be effective, one must treat both indigenous and Western practices as cultural systems, which require mutual understanding and accommodation.

Date: 1982
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