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Naturalizing Machines, Mechanizing Bodies: Constructions of Personhood at the NICU

Paula Martone1, Anna Molas2, Diana Marre1

  • 1Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Medical Anthropology
|April 11, 2026
PubMed

Preterm infants represent a medical and social challenge. Their liminal state in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can jeopardize parental recognition of their personhood and even of their status as human beings. Aware of how this could affect infants' recovery, the neonatal team enacts material and symbolic strategies that appeal to practices framed as "natural" and that parents are expected to perform. We argue that this process simultaneously reconfigures the NICU as a more "natural" environment while mechanizing mothers' bodily functions. These dynamics often generate tensions, as parents feel their own needs are overlooked in favor of their infants' well-being.

Keywords:
EthnographySpainliminalityparenthoodpersonhoodpreterm birth

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