Pregnancy and Miscarriage in Qatar: Women, Reproduction and the State

Description

As the bearers of the next generation in one of the richest countries in the world, the social status of Qatari women is closely linked to their ability to have children. Women are expected to reflect the cultural and religious values attached to motherhood, and not having children puts women in a potentially vulnerable position. But Qatari women must also play an essential role in reflecting the country as a centre of Arab modernity, availing themselves of the new opportunities in work, politics and public life. This book explores the changing role of women in Qatari society and analyses how Qatari women navigate the competing expectations placed upon them. Based on original interviews with pregnant women and women who have experienced miscarriage – as well as interviews with doctors, religious scholars and family members – the book reveals how socio-cultural forces shape the way miscarriage is framed and experienced. It also reveals how intimate reproductive events are deeply entangled with broader societal and political issues. In exploring the themes of reproduction, motherhood and family relationships, this unique study sheds light on the values and beliefs circulating in Qatari society and how these are mapped on to women’s bodies. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Miscarriage: challenging the trope of silence 1 Qatar: Traditional Modernity Setting Anthropology of miscarriage: the project Contribution and chapter outline 2 Women and State: Reproduction and Arab Modernity Reproducing the nation: Islam, the state and Qatari mothers Qatari modernity: innovation, education and international politics Custom and the contemporary Conclusions 3 Huda: Marriage, Motherhood and Loss Reproductive navigations, pregnancy and miscarriage Marriage and the importance of Qatar motherhood Conclusions 4 Motherhood Lost: Stories of Miscarriage Moza Noora Conclusions 5 Modern Bodies; Miscarriage Cause Modernity, women’s bodies and reproduction Further exhaustions: age, illness and bodily weakness Blame and culpability Conclusions 6 (Super)natural Forces and Miscarriage Cause God gives and God takes Hit by the eye Protecting oneself: the art of concealment Conclusions 7 The Foetus: Burials, Babies, Birds and Imaginings The miscarried foetus Zinā babies Emerging foetal personhood: ensoulment and movement Birds in heaven Foetuses in a global world Conclusions 8 Reproductive Disruptions: Spectrum of Compromised Fertility Miscarriage unshrouded Multiple miscarriage: towards infertility Infertility Normativity and silence – thoughts on the comparative Conclusions 9 State Development Discourse: Maternalism and Empowerment Education and employment: expectations, ambitions and challenges Professional pregnancy: problematic negotiations, managing tensions and mitigating risk The role of domestic workers in negotiating professional and maternal roles Maids, miscarriage and modernity: domestic workers and state policy Conclusions Conclusions Notes References Index