Problems concerning tubectomy operations in rural areas of Punjab
Pettigrew, J.
Economic and Political Weekly 19(26): 995-1002
1984
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-9976 Document Number: 422209
The paper presents a case study of the unintended repercussions on her family of one woman's tubectomy operation. In this Punjab village women reported experience of pain in the pelvic area and lower back region after the operation. This affected both their work capacity in the fields and their relationship within the family with their children and their husbands. It is suggested that the method of tubectomy used in field hospitals, chiefly mini-laparatomy, might have to be considered unacceptable in the rural areas given the type of work undertaken by women who are the wives of small farmers and labourers. The paper also describes the clinical milieu in which the tubectomy takes place and the attendant hospital conditions. A further section mentions the negative side played by the village dispensary and other doctors in the family planning process. Traditionally the younger woman or daughter-in-law's position within the household has been low. By regarding a woman as a target for a sterilization operation as soon as she has two children, doctors merely confirm that and extend her low status into yet another area.