Authoritative knowledge, folk knowledge, and antenatal care in contemporary Northern Thailand

Abstract

This chapter addresses the issue of authoritative knowledge and folk knowledge in antenatal care in contemporary Northern Thailand. It also presents the experience of pregnancy and antenatal care among women in Northern Thailand. Women assert that their doctors know best about their pregnancy and what they should or should not do. They follow medical advice, most often, without any question. Women wish to make sure that they do everything right to ensure the safety of the birth and a healthy child. Some middle class women wish to have choices and control over their pregnancies and the antenatal care they receive by choosing their own doctors. These opportunities are denied to rural poor women due to their financial hardships. Medical advice to rural poor women does not seem to take into account the social circumstances of the women. Most poor women are unable to follow dietary advice from their doctors. In this chapter, we conclude that, to many Thai women, the cultural authority of biomedicine pervades. Despite several decades of campaigns for reproductive choices among women's movements, these notions are still problematic in Thai antenatal care.