Cultural values, birth and parenting

From July 2021 to June 2025, I will be running an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, FT200100346 Cultural values, birth and parenting: Reproductive health and Lao socialism.

This research investigates the rollout of an ambitious reproductive health initiative in Laos. It is estimated that 70% of women in Laos birth without any biomedical care. The Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) program aims to halve this, along with other significant indicators such as maternal mortality and childhood stunting.

My objectives are to document birth and parenting practices already present in Laos (including a museum exhibition appreciating birth and parenting practices as cultural heritage) and to also understand the cultural values at play in the push to change birth and parenting practices.