Professionalizing midwifery: exploring medically imagined labor rooms in rural Rajasthan

In India, globalized flows of biomedical discourse like evidence-based delivery practices (EBDs) and new technologies are reshaping the field of reproductive health care. As iterations of evidence-based medicine shift, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) increasingly act as distributive agents for biomedical projects that equate modernized health care spaces and provider-care techniques with a marked improvement in the safety of birth outcomes. In this article, I examine how particular local iterations of EBDs are distributed to skilled birth attendants (SBAs) who have become sites for globalized projects aimed at reshaping their professional designation. I draw on data collected through in-depth ethnographic interviews with SBAs practicing in health centers around southern Rajasthan to explore the dynamics and tensions surrounding the professionalization of midwives and the increasing promotion of EBDs in institutional labor rooms.