Medicalisation of Womens Health in the Context of Hysterectomy

Abstract

newlinevii newlineABSTRACT newlineThe rising number of hysterectomies among young woman in many states of newlineIndia in the last decade has been a matter of concern. The issue raised furore newlinewhen this phenomena of hysterectomy was exposed in the Beed district of newlineMaharashtra citing an entire village as wombless ; the news got coverage by newlinenot only national but also international news agencies. It raised question on the newlinerole of medical ethics, and the regulatory bodies on their incapacity to stop such newlineunwarranted surgeries. Studies and grey literature suggest that it is mainly rural, newlinepoor and the marginalised women who fall prey to such unjust practices, all newlineover the country. newlineThough being a medical procedure, the present study aims at exploring newlinehysterectomy as a process from diverse perspectives. Following the interpretive newlinetradition, attempt has been made to study various facets such as the living and newlineworking conditions of the women who underwent hysterectomy; their day-to- newlineday experience of managing menstruation, their illness and treatment seeking newlinebehaviours for gynaecological morbidities. This was accomplished by newlineconducting in depth interviews of 38 women who had undergone hysterectomy newlineand their corresponding practitioner who carried out the procedure. The newlineinformation generated was triangulated with two key informant interviews. The newlineinformation pertaining to the healthcare facilities of the concerned taluka in newlinePune district and Pune city has remained as the context of the study. Keeping newlinewomen as the primary actors, the study also captures the medical practitioners newlineperspective about the evolving treatment practices for gynaecological newlinemorbidities, the risk factors associated with those morbidities, role of medical newlineethics and so on. The other dimensions include accessibility to medical care and newlineintersectionality operating in women s lives, medicalisation as an inevitable newlineprocess in the society and their role in controlling/regulating women s bodies in newlinethe process of rendering care. The study has also demonstrated the complex and newlinesimultaneous interaction between medicalisation and commercialisation in the newlinecontext of accessing medical care.viii newlineThe findings of the study suggest for those women predominantly belonging to newlinelower socio-economic background; who face difficulty in accessing treatment newlinein the midst of inadequate of health facilities. The data also elucidates that newlinewomen s health and illness experiences are subject to surveillance and control newlineby social structures, institutions and competing ideologies. In such newlinecircumstances, hysterectomy becomes a natural progression for most of the newlinegynaecological morbidity faced by women. This is due to a combination of newlinefactors ranging from biomedical interpretation of gynaecological morbidity newlinemanagement which propagate hysterectomy as the most appropriate solution for newlinea range of menstrual disorders and gynaecological morbidities. Further, the fear newlineof cancers and the normalisation of C section and other surgical operations newlineresult in removal of uterus as normal procedure among those women who have newlinecompleted their familial responsibilities. In the event of any illness caused due newlineto menstruation, the women s consideration of the financial burden due to loss newlineof daily remuneration and out of pocket medical expenses further contribute to newlinethe process of hysterectomy which actually acts as a one stop solution to their newlinemultiple problems.