Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses the connection between food practices, dirt and disorder. It documents the active role of women enduring pain through the process of home birthing and focuses upon the utilisation of a purgative plant which has been banned by health organizations because of its toxicity.

Paper long abstract:

In the Hadiya zone the prevailing ethic of self-control with regard to female bodies becomes evident in times of great vulnerability such as in pregnancy. Women adopt old hygienic practices as a sign of resilience against a wide range of threats.

Home births entail a meticulous training of the body. Among the recipes the use of medicinal plants, and especially of Kosso, stands out prominently as a method to enhance strength without accumulating dirt. Health organizations currently discourage its use.

The last two months of pregnancy are characterized by the opposite extreme of gluttony, that of the emptying out of the stomach. Disorders, mostly provoked by cravings, are replaced by qualities which can aid a successful birth: "heat" and "dryness" are synonyms for well-being, purity, and the physical/moral energy to go through with the ordeal. White and soft foodstuffs, as well as fat, are considered a hazard. The mother-to-be takes more care of her own body, orienting it towards a dry thinness, than she does of the child which may require frequent and nutritious food intake.

According to attitudes fostered by human rights' rhetoric, practices which are considered traditional or pointlessly painful from a scientific point of view, are indications of irrational behaviour. On the contrary, the native women willfully opt for pain in order to shape themselves as persons of worth.

These dietary rules imply a category of cleanliness and order, raising questions about external scientific medical intervention in local community practices. Even though the authorities have announced the abolition of Kosso, the women keep on employing it at length because they regard official information about exposure to public health risks as misleading.