Once upon a Birth
A community center in Adhog (डढोग) in Himachal Pradesh, India, served as an incubator for futures explorations. A series of improvised and innovative workshops gathered the voices of a pregnant woman, mothers, and community health workers to reimagine the future of childbirth from a rural Indian perspective.
Yearnings for different futures
The community center in Adhog (डढोग) in Himachal Pradesh.
Young and older mothers participating in the workshop.
In re-imagining birth care of the future, one thing stood out: the (lack of) access to care. Women in labour in the mountainous areas of Himachal Pradesh sometimes had to climb a path to catch a bus - that sometimes never comes - to give birth in overcrowded hospitals. What if… the hospital could come to the mountain?
what if…?
Some participants wondered if future societies could prioritize values like care, reciprocity and community interdependence in all spheres of life, as well as value their personal experiences: a future with episetmic justice. A few participants even raised the idea of ectogenesis - gestating babies fully outside the womb - as a radical alternative to conventional pregnancy. Across the board, participants recognized that how we envision and structure the birthing experience has wide-ranging impacts
Their perspectives underscored the universal need for perinatal care that blends medical advancements with human-centered, culturally-sensitive practices honoring people’s basic needs and rights as birthing persons.
