“We wait to become”: The politics of selfhood, culture and control in waiting mothers’ shelters

Abstract

In this article, I explore how cultural norms, bodily autonomy and institutional control intersect in shaping maternal care in a waiting mothers’ shelter (WMS) in Mawadza, a rural community in Mutasa District, Zimbabwe. Looking through a symbolic interactionist lens, I examine how pregnant women negotiate selfhood as they move from community-based childbirth traditions into biomedical maternal health systems. Over six months of fieldwork, I conducted fifteen interviews with women who had stayed at the shelter and five key-informant interviews with health care workers and traditional birth attendants. Pregnant women shared with me how cultural practices and rituals shaped their identities and sense of protection during pregnancy. Yet, once admitted to the shelter, they were subjected to biomedical protocols and routines that marginalised indigenous knowledge and constrained their autonomy. The WMS emerged as both a space of safety and of control, where compliance, resistance and covert practices coexisted. I conclude that while WMSs remain vital for improving maternal health outcomes, their legitimacy depends on engaging women’s lived experiences and integrating culturally meaningful practices into institutional care.