Hands That Heal, Hearts That Decide: Midwives as Medical and Legal Translators in Senegal

Abstract

As I will show, the implementation of global health and reproductive policies can create “productive misunderstandings” (Livingston, 2016) where the individual health providers, in this case the midwife, act as the judiciary. “Productive misunderstandings” arise when a conflict or lack of definition between two entities creates room for new insights, ideas, or solutions. Because the two entities at play have different definitions or goals that don’t entirely incorporate each other, their interactions create a gap of misunderstandings. It is within this wiggle room where policy is not so strictly defined that we can understand how a midwife has the power to shape patient care experiences through their interpretation of that misunderstanding.No embargoAcademic Major: Medical Anthropolog