Kilshaw, S;
Miller, D;
Al Tamimi, H;
El-Taher, F;
Mohsen, M;
Omar, N;
Major, S;
(2016)
Calm Vessels: Cultural Expectations of Pregnant Women in Qatar.
Anthropology of the Middle East
, 11
(2)
pp. 39-59.
10.3167/ame.2016.110204.
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Abstract
This article explores emerging themes from the first stage of ethnographic research investigating pregnancy and loss in Qatar. Issues around the development of foetal personhood, the medical management of the pregnant body and the social role of the pregnant woman are explored. Findings suggest that Qatari women are expected to be calm vessels for their growing baby and should avoid certain foods and behaviours. These ideas of risk avoidance are linked to indigenous knowledge around a mother’s influence on a child’s health and traits. Motherhood holds a particularly important place in Qatari culture and in Islam, and women are ultimately responsible for protecting and promoting fertility and for producing healthy children.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Calm Vessels: Cultural Expectations of Pregnant Women in Qatar |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3167/ame.2016.110204 |
| Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2016.110204 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © Berghahn Books. All rights reserved. |
| Keywords: | Miscarriage, pregnancy, Qatar, risk, women’s health |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1547551 |
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