In this article, I discuss, according to the theoretical-analytical framework of Menéndez (1994), how women and their midwives follow a plural therapeutical itinerary during pregnancy and labor in the region of Antigua, Guatemala. I look forward to present and analyze an example of a delivery that happened during my research, first, as a paradigmatic example of dialogue, not always friendly and pacific, among various local medical systems: a Mayan comadrona (the local midwife), a ladino doctor and a foreign nurse-midwife. Second, this delivery illustrates an encounter that brings together ethnic, class, and gender relations influences by  power and conflict that has structured the material and symbolic construction of this "young" country.

In this article, I discuss, according to the theoretical-analytical framework of Menéndez (1994), how women and their midwives follow a plural therapeutical itinerary during pregnancy and labor in the region of Antigua, Guatemala. I look forward to present and analyze an example of a delivery that happened during my research, first, as a paradigmatic example of dialogue, not always friendly and pacific, among various local medical systems: a Mayan comadrona (the local midwife), a ladino doctor and a foreign nurse-midwife. Second, this delivery illustrates an encounter that brings together ethnic, class, and gender relations influences by power and conflict that has structured the material and symbolic construction of this "young" country.

In this article, I discuss, according to the theoretical-analytical framework of Menéndez (1994), how women and their midwives follow a plural therapeutical itinerary during pregnancy and labor in the region of Antigua, Guatemala. I look forward to present and analyze an example of a delivery that happened during my research, first, as a paradigmatic example of dialogue, not always friendly and pacific, among various local medical systems: a Mayan comadrona (the local midwife), a ladino doctor and a foreign nurse-midwife. Second, this delivery illustrates an encounter that brings together ethnic, class, and gender relations influences by  power and conflict that has structured the material and symbolic construction of this "young" country.