Remembering our traditions. Study of the practices of traditional midwives in India

In India approximately 75% of births are attended by traditional midwives (dais) and in poor rural and urban areas up to 90%. The dais acquire their profession through apprenticeship with an older experienced midwife and often from the family. Traditional midwives depositories of culturally appropriate knowledge work based on concepts belonging to indigenous ideology about the human body. Despite this they are considered by medical personnel as unskilled and that they dont practice according to the biomedical model. So the majority of public health services for women are based on academic medicine while in small communities medicine that is customarily traditional and almost always the only ones there to solve health problems are the dais. (excerpt)