Into Women’s Hands: A Decolonial Approach to Misoprostol Research in West Africa

• In Event: 50867 - Liberating, decolonizing, and queering science, knowledge, and technology

Abstract

Misoprostol is a prostaglandin that softens the cervix and causes the uterus to contract and expel its contents. It is widely perceived as a panacea for reducing global maternal mortality related to postpartum hemorrhage and unsafe abortion. Most research on misoprostol in Africa has entailed clinical studies of its therapeutic efficacy and statistical studies of its cost and availability on health facilities and pharmacies. Many of these studies have been spearheaded by NGOs and donors headquartered in the global North. Throughout the continent, misoprostol has been introduced to public health systems as an essential medication for obstetric care, and NGOs have promoted misoprostol in private markets as a way for African women to achieve reproductive rights. In this paper, I describe an alternative approach to research on misoprostol in West Africa that is grounded in decoloniality and reproductive justice. As part of the “Into Women’s Hands” project, I work with faculty and students from national universities in Burkina Faso and Senegal in an ethnography of misoprostol. Moving beyond quantitative indicators, we ask: how does a “life-saving” drug finds its way into the hands of some patients, consumers, and health workers, but not others? How do such inequities illuminate broader struggles over reproduction along the lines of race, geography, gender, profession, and class? We draw on decoloniality and reproductive justice not only through investigating structural inequities in how misoprostol is used and distributed, but also by disrupting structural inequities in the production of knowledge about misoprostol and obstetric care.

Author

• Siri Suh, Brandeis University