Traditional parterie under the vigilant eye of the state

Abstract

In this paper, I propose to observe how certain neoliberal politics and programmes presented under the discourse of reducing maternal mortality in Mexico have affected traditional midwives in the state of Chiapas and their respective communities. I also present some of the cracks that midwives make to keep their work alive, which is linked to the Mayan sense of the world, encompasses a vision of care that is more communitarian, feminine, not based on economic gain, linked to the territoriality of each village and marked by an ethical sense of responsibility towards life. This discussion is part of a doctoral research on traditional parteria among native peoples in Mexico and the African diaspora in Brazil. Methodologically, I dialogue with works done on the subject, interviews with traditional midwives of the state of Chiapas and ethnography resulting from the monitoring of an organization of traditional doctors of the respective state.