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“You have been telling the women that eating more during pregnancy will
make their babies weigh more at birth. But mothers here are afraid to have big
babies. Sometimes, if a baby is too big for her hips, the mother cannot give birth.
So women have learned to eat little during pregnancy, in order to have smaller
babies.”
“No wonder my teaching failed!” said Janaki. “Why didn’t they tell me? I tried to
encourage them to express their ideas.”
“Maybe you spoke your own new ideas too quickly and too strongly,” said
Saraswati. “The women do not like to contradict you.”
“Then how can I teach them?” asked Janaki.
“Begin with what they know and believe. Build on that,” answered Saraswati.
“For example, talk to them about dhatu. According to our tradition, dhatu is a
substance that brings strength and harmony. It is related to eating certain foods.
Pregnant women are not interested in gaining weight or having larger babies. But
they are interested in strength and harmony for themselves and their babies, when
this comes through dhatu.”
Janaki invited Saraswati to come to talk with the women about dhatu at the next
Tuesday meeting.
When everyone had gathered, Saraswati
started by telling a story about a family whose
mango crop failed because they did not
fertilize their trees in time. She asked, “Near
the time of harvest, if the fruit looks weak, is
that the time to think of adding manure to the
ground?”
“Oh no,” said the women. “It is too late!”
“So it is with giving birth” said Saraswati. “A
difficult birth is often caused by weakness of
the mother and child, because they lack dhatu.
Since a mother must share her dhatu with
her child, she needs to eat plenty of dhatu-
producing foods. But dhatu takes time to be
made. Foods that make blood and dhatu need
to be eaten all through pregnancy.”
The women were excited and began to
discuss what they knew about dhatu-producing
foods. They begged Saraswati to come back and
talk to them again.
The following Tuesday Saraswati did not go to the meeting. But before it began,
she talked to Janaki about ways that Janaki might interest the mothers in eating
foods with iron. Saraswati reminded her that redness of the body and blood is
considered a sign of health. In Mumabundo, pregnant women are said to be in
danger of ‘impurities of the blood’, and iron is traditionally used to protect and purify
the blood in times of danger. Also, teas made from iron-rich plants like fenugreek
and sesame are given to girls when they begin to menstruate and before they
marry, to strengthen blood and increase beauty. Saraswati suggested that Janaki
build on these traditions, to help the women realize the need for iron-rich foods
during pregnancy.