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Pregnancy and Childbirth in Tibet: Knowledge, Perspectives, and Practices
Childbirth Across Cultures: Ideas and Practices of Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Postpartum
Science Across Cultures: the History of Non-Western Science
Short Title: Pregnancy and Childbirth in Tibet
Format: Book Chapter
Publication Date: Nov 30, 2008
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Place of Publication: Dordrecht
Pages: 145 - 160
Sources ID: 97371
Visibility: Public (group default)
Abstract: (Show)
To Tibetans life does not begin at birth, but rather at conception. After death, a being’s consciousness… wanders in an intermediate realm until impelled by the forces of its own karma to enter a womb at the instant of conception. Gestation is a hazardous time when women try to consume foods and seek spiritual means to prevent any harm coming to their growing baby. Once born, the child must fight for survival against daunting odds. Infancy is fraught with more hazards than any other stage of the life course, and the infant mortality rate in Nubri is frightfully high. Nearly one in every four children born alive does not live to see his or her first birthday. (Childs 2004: 38)