From the forest to the clinic: changing birth practice among the Katang, Lao

It is the right of indigenous peoples to maintain traditional cultural practices but women's right to reproductive health may be compromised by the very beliefs and practices that define culture. Based on interviews with Katang villagers and a range of local medical practitioners, this paper describes how the Katang people of Lao are coming to terms with this dilemma in a context of development and change. Indigenous religion prohibits Katang women from giving birth in the house; traditionally they go into the forest for delivery. The birthing hut (an innovation in one village), training of six TBAs, the opening of a primary level clinic where normal births can take place and growing awareness of the need for referral to higher levels of care in case of complications are all changes that are transforming women's childbirth experience. As these changes become established, and awareness grows in the local communities of the importance of being able to access services in a timely way, the possibility of reducing maternal deaths will become a reality.