Volume 8, Issue 2, September 2014, Pages 579–585
Nilangi Sardeshpande1
1 PhD scholar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai Senior Research Consultant, SATHI, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Hysterectomy among young women is being raised as a matter of concern by women's health advocates in India. This paper is based on a qualitative study conducted in the state of Maharashtra, which attempts to understand the ways in which women overcome the barriers in accessing health services for reproductive morbidities, the reasons for accepting hysterectomy as ' the' treatment as well as the implications of hysterectomy on women's health. Total 44 in depth interviews were conducted with women, who had undergone hysterectomy and were below 45 years at the time of interview. Fear of cancer, failure of medical treatment, practical difficulties in living with reproductive health problems, fear mongering by the doctors and belief in the hysterectomy as the best treatment, these were some of the reasons for which women accepted hysterectomy. Most of these hysterectomies were conducted in private hospitals. The study indicates the need for further research for explicating the role of private health sector in medicalising different reproductive events occurring in the life of women.
Author Keywords: Reproductive Health, Access, Hysterectomy, India, Fear of Cancer.
Nilangi Sardeshpande1
1 PhD scholar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai Senior Research Consultant, SATHI, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Hysterectomy among young women is being raised as a matter of concern by women's health advocates in India. This paper is based on a qualitative study conducted in the state of Maharashtra, which attempts to understand the ways in which women overcome the barriers in accessing health services for reproductive morbidities, the reasons for accepting hysterectomy as ' the' treatment as well as the implications of hysterectomy on women's health. Total 44 in depth interviews were conducted with women, who had undergone hysterectomy and were below 45 years at the time of interview. Fear of cancer, failure of medical treatment, practical difficulties in living with reproductive health problems, fear mongering by the doctors and belief in the hysterectomy as the best treatment, these were some of the reasons for which women accepted hysterectomy. Most of these hysterectomies were conducted in private hospitals. The study indicates the need for further research for explicating the role of private health sector in medicalising different reproductive events occurring in the life of women.
Author Keywords: Reproductive Health, Access, Hysterectomy, India, Fear of Cancer.
How to Cite this Article
Nilangi Sardeshpande, “Why do young women accept hysterectomy? Findings from a study in Maharashtra, India,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 579–585, September 2014.
