Las parteras del cantón Sígsig: estudio etnográfico

Abstract

The present work has the purpose of conducting an ethnographic study on midwives in the Sígsig canton of the province of Azuay. For this research has focused on the wide range of ancestral and traditional knowledge used by midwives before, during and after childbirth. Offering a more humane treatment based on the relationship with nature as a giver and healer of life, with a strong belief in the pre-colonial, post-colonial and religious rituals for the recovery of the woman who has given birth. These midwives are familiar with medicinal herbs and their many uses, which are used in the rituals of the puerperium baths: five, twelve, twenty-eight and forty; and in the rituals of laceration and chaining, being treatments unique in comparison to the midwives of other cantons. In addition, the treatment provided with herbal medicines, handling and use of these, makes the population of Sígsig prefers their attendance rather than that of a professional doctor. Finally, the social recognition of midwives over the population has generated a strong influence not only on the lifestyle, but also in their conception of health. However, in the insertion of the midwives in the activities and the system of the health agencies of the canton. Being of great importance the cultural inheritance of this practice, through women who acquired these gifts of the oral tradition and the experiences in their own body.