Syahirah Rasheed examines the tensions between biomedical and religio-cultural discourses in medicalised childbirth, rooted in the denigration of indigenous midwives and stereotypes of "native" women. 

She explores how doulas bridge biomedicine and cultural beliefs to address the needs of the marginalised Malay community in Singapore. Rasheed argues that contemporary maternity care is continuously evolving from global circulation of medical knowledge, practices, and technologies.

Speaker

Syahirah Rasheed completed her PhD in Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, featuring novel ethnographic fieldwork of hospital childbirth. Previously, she did her MA in development studies at the International Institute of Social Studies (The Hague), specialising in women and gender. Her research fields are in medical anthropology, sexual and reproductive health, and feminist epistemology. She is currently an affiliated fellow at KITLV, where she is consolidating research on Muslim doulas in Singapore. Find her on YouTube @syarasheedphd.

Moderator

David Kloos is a historian and anthropologist with a focus on Southeast Asia. His main interests are religion (particularly Islam), gender, the politics of knowledge formation, visual methods, and the study of the social, political, and cultural aspects of climate change.

Format, date, time & venue

This seminar is a hybrid event and will be held in the conference room of KITLV, Herta Mohr building, room 1.30, Witte Singel 27 A, Leiden and online via Zoom, on Thursday 23 September from 15.30 – 17.00 PM (CET).

Image

Rumput Fatimah (Lat. Anastatica hierochuntica) is an herb from arid areas on which Muslim doulas are often asked to arbitrate. Photo by Syahirah Rasheed.

Flyer