Okay so sorry again for the neglect but the dissertation/thesis whatever you want to call it is kicking my arse, to put it semi-delicately. But actually that's why I'm updating. To vent. I guess doing my thesis is part of my "Irish shenanigans" since study is the main reason why I'm here. Anywho, to the point.
I just had to put down a study that I was reading for my thesis because I was getting really upset. This has been happening for the past week or so now. It seems as if the terrible, disrespectful attitude by health workers, like 99.9% of them Western trained is world wide.
I guess I should back up a bit.
Basically what I'm doing my thesis on is what I was going to do in the first place bar the actual data collection part and extending the literature review. So the official type of thesis I'm doing is a research protocol. My literature review consists of two parts: 1. How has the introduction of a Western health facility has affected the community (and how it has affected the views/opinions of traditional birth attendants)? 2. Is the training of traditional birth attendants a plausible solution to the human resource for health crisis/possible way to decrease the maternal, neonatal and child (MNC health) mortality/morbidity rate?
Confused? Basically I'm comparing/contrasting Western health workers to traditional birth attendants. Now the reason why I've been getting more and more upset and why I started this post the way I did was that in a lot of the studies that I've been reading, the women are quoted saying that in the Western facilities they are getting treated badly and that's why they don't go or why they choose to give birth at home. I would too if someone, especially someone of authority and power, was yelling at me and telling me that I was dumb or ignoring me completely because they thought I deserved to be in pain because I didn't seek out their help earlier. Really? Yeah I loooooove being yelled at and told that I'm stupid in front of tons of people on top of the fact that I'm in excruciating pain and a watermelon is trying to make it's way out of my hoo-hah. For example, in the study that I basically threw down because I was so annoyed there is a nurse that was quoted yelling at a teenager while she was in labour, "You didn't shout like that when the men were on top of you." I mean give me an effing break lady... Look you may have your opinions of when people should start having sex or whatever but jeez louise the kid is in pain and God forbid she dies the last thing she's going to hear is some condescending, jerkface of a woman yelling at her? A lot of the studies I'm reading say that women either can't be bothered by going to a Western health facility because of the way they're treated or it's too expensive (poverty at its worst) and/or the fact that traditional birth attendants are more respectful of the woman's wishes and understand more of the context but still command respect as a health professional. My question is why the eff can't these Western health workers see that to reduce MNC mortality/morbidity rates?! Can you see my frustration?
I mean I'm not saying that traditional healers and traditional birth attendants are the only true practitioners of medicine but there's a reason why women still choose to go to them after all this time AND why that medicine has persisted through time. Yes the "gold standard" is usually Western medical practices which is fine but I still stand by the fact that the "gold standard" for how to treat people and how to approach medicine is executed by traditional healers and traditional birth attendants.
So there.
Hmphf D:<
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