The legacy of colonial rule has permeated into all aspects of life and contributed to healthcare inequity. In response to the increased interest in social justice, medical educators are thinking of ways to decolonise education and produce doctors who can meet the complex needs of diverse populations. This paper aims to explore decolonising ideas of healing within medical education following recent events including the University College London Medical School’s Decolonising the Medical Curriculum public engagement event, the Wellcome Collection’s Ayurvedic Man: Encounters with Indian Medicine exhibition and its symposium on Decolonising Health, SOAS University of London’s Applying a Decolonial Lens to Research Structures, Norms and Practices in Higher Education Institutions and University College London Anthropology Department’s Flourishing Diversity Series. We investigate implications of ‘recentring’ displaced indigenous healing systems, medical pluralism and highlight the concept of cultural humility in medical training, which while challenging, may benefit patients. From a global health perspective, climate change debates and associated civil protests around the issues resonate with indigenous ideas of planetary health, which focus on the harmonious interconnection of the planet, the environment and human beings. Finally, we look further at its implications in clinical practice, addressing the background of inequality in healthcare among the BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) populations, intersectionality and an increasing recognition of the role of inter-generational trauma originating from the legacy of slavery. By analysing these theories and conversations that challenge the biomedical view of health, we conclude that encouraging healthcare educators and professionals to adopt a ‘decolonising attitude’ can address the complex power imbalances in health and further improve person-centred care.

This review describes the emerging global debate on the role of human rights childbirth. It is also tailored to a UK perspective in view of the Montgomery v. Lanarkshire [2015] legal ruling and it implications to practice. We can never underestimate the power of humane care on health. The compassion and evidence based medicine agenda in healthcare is interconnected with human rights in healthcare, feeding into the principles of decision making and patient centred care. When this has not happened and there is been healthcare conflict, the power of storytelling serves to connect disparate parties to their common humanity. Narratives are an important aspect of restorative justice processes and we suggest that this could be beneficial in the field of human rights in childbirth.

In a global culture that is increasingly interested in ecological interventions, probiotics, ‘friendly bacteria’, microbiome preservation/restoration and long-term health, there is growing awareness of the idea of seeding the vaginal microbiome in the new born after caesarean section. It is postulated as a way of restoring helpful missing microbes and preventing long term non-communicable diseases of babies delivered by caesarean section. Currently, there is a deluge of evidence being published on the human microbiome, which can be challenging to digest and absorb by scientists, clinicians and patients. The specific evidence base around this technique is at its early stages. This commentary discusses what advice is currently available from a feminist and a person-centred care perspective. Abstrakt Det er en voksende interesse internasjonalt for økologiske intervensjoner, probiotika, ‘snille bakterier’, bevaring/gjenoppretting av. mikrobiomet og helse i et langtidsperspektiv. I denne sammenhengen er det en økende interesse for tanken om å så det vaginale mikrobiomet (vaginal seeding) på den nyfødte etter et keisersnitt. Dette er postulert som en måte å gjenopprette manglende normalflora/mikrobiom og forebygge langvarige ikke-smittsomme sykdommer hos barn født med keisersnitt. For tiden publiseres det mye forskning om menneskets mikrobiom, noe som kan være utfordrende å fordøye og ta til seg for forskere, klinikere og pasienter. Forskningen på denne spesifikke metoden er i sin begynnelse. Denne kommentaren drøfter hvilke råd som for øyeblikket er tilgjengelige, fra et feministisk og personsentrert omsorgsperspektiv. Popularisert sammendrag på norsk Det menneskelige mikrobiomet er summen av alle bakteriene som dekker den menneskelige kroppen og det hjelper kroppen i å fungere optimalt. Når mikrobiomet forstyrres, vil kroppen kunne få betennelsesreaksjoner og allergier. I fødsel finnes de «gode» bakteriene i kvinnens vagina. (det vaginale mikrobiomet) som man tror vil være fordelaktig for babyens evne til å utvikle et sunt immunsystem. Babyer som er født med keisersnitt vil ikke bli eksponert for disse «gode» bakteriene og det kan påvirke barnets immunforsvar negativt og potensielt øke sjansen for allergier og betennelsesreaksjoner i kroppen på lang sikt. Vaginal seeding (et forsøk på å gjenopprette balansen og noen av de gode bakterier i spedbarnet gjennom å tilføre mors vaginale bakterier via en kompress som strykes over spedbarnets ansikt) Vaginal seeding er en metode som noen forskere sier muligens delvis gjenoppretter de manglende «gode» bakteriene etter et keisersnitt. Forskningen er på et tidlig stadium. Det har vært avisartikler og en film om emnet og mødre har funnet ut om vaginal seeding som en måte å gjenopprette denne delen av babyens mikrobiom. Foreldre ønsker å diskutere vaginal seeding, men på nåværende tidspunkt er helsevesenet avventende og helsepersonell er ikke godt nok informert. Denne artikkelen vil se på den på...

Respectful maternity care (RMC) is part of a global movement addressing the previous absence of human rights in global safe maternal care guidance. RMC is grounded in kindness, compassion, dignity and respectful working conditions. The decolonisation movement in healthcare seeks to dismantle structural biases set up from a historically white, male, heteronormative Eurocentric medical system. This article applies a decolonising lens to the RMC agenda and examines barriers to its implementation in UK healthcare systems. Searches of peer-reviewed journals about decolonising maternity care in the UK revealed little. Drawing from wider information bases, we examine power imbalances constructed throughout a history of various colonial biases yet lingering in maternity care. The overarching findings of our analysis revealed 3 areas of focus: professional structures and institutional biases; power imbalances between types of staff and stakeholders of care; and person-centred care through a decolonial lens. To uproot inequity and create fairer and more respectful maternity care for women, birthing people and staff, it is vital that contemporary maternity institutions understand the decolonial perspective. This novel enquiry offers a scaffolding to undertake this process. Due to significant differences in colonial history between Western colonising powers, it is important to decolonise with respect to these different territories, histories and challenges.

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