Susie Kilshaw – författare

Miscarriage is a significant women's health issue. Research has consistently shown that one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage. This collected volume explores miscarriage in diverse historical and cultural settings with contributions from anthropologists, historians and medical professionals. Contributors use rich ethnographic and historical material to discuss how pregnancy loss is managed and negotiated in a range of societies. The book considers meanings attached to miscarriage and how religious, cultural, medical and legal forces impact the way miscarriage is experienced and perceived.

This collected volume explores miscarriage in diverse historical and cultural settings with contributions from anthropologists, historians and medical professionals. The book considers meanings attached to miscarriage and how religious, cultural, medical and legal forces impact the way miscarriage is experienced and perceived.

As the bearers of the next generation in one of the richest countries in the world, the social status of Qatari women is closely linked to their ability to have children. Women are expected to reflect the cultural and religious values attached to motherhood, and not having children puts women in a potentially vulnerable position. But Qatari women must also play an essential role in reflecting the country as a centre of Arab modernity, availing themselves of the new opportunities in work, politics and public life. This book explores the changing role of women in Qatari society and analyses how Qatari women navigate the competing expectations placed upon them. Based on original interviews with pregnant women and women who have experienced miscarriage - as well as interviews with doctors, religious scholars and family members - the book reveals how socio-cultural forces shape the way miscarriage is framed and experienced. It also reveals how intimate reproductive events are deeply entangled with broader societal and political issues. In exploring the themes of reproduction, motherhood and family relationships, this unique study sheds light on the values and beliefs circulating in Qatari society and how these are mapped on to women’s bodies.

From September 1990 to June 1991, the UK deployed 53,462 military personnel in the Gulf War. After the end of the conflict anecdotal reports of various disorders affecting troops who fought in the Gulf began to surface. This mysterious illness was given the name “Gulf War Syndrome” (GWS). This book is an investigation into this recently emergent illness, particularly relevant given ongoing UK deployments to Iraq, describing how the illness became a potent symbol for a plethora of issues, anxieties, and concerns. At present, the debate about GWS is polarized along two lines: there are those who think it is a unique, organic condition caused by Gulf War toxins and those who argue that it is probably a psychological condition that can be seen as part of a larger group of illnesses. Using the methods and perspective of anthropology, with its focus on nuances and subtleties, the author provides a new approach to understanding GWS, one that makes sense of the cultural circumstances, specific and general, which gave rise to the illness.