Naturalizing Machines, Mechanizing Bodies: Constructions of Personhood at the NICU.

IF 1.2 3区社会学 Q2 ANTHROPOLOGY

Medical Anthropology Pub Date : 2026-04-11 DOI:10.1080/01459740.2026.2653862

Paula Martone, Anna Molas, Diana Marre

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Preterm infants represent a medical and social challenge. Their liminal state in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can jeopardize parental recognition of their personhood and even of their status as human beings. Aware of how this could affect infants' recovery, the neonatal team enacts material and symbolic strategies that appeal to practices framed as "natural" and that parents are expected to perform. We argue that this process simultaneously reconfigures the NICU as a more "natural" environment while mechanizing mothers' bodily functions. These dynamics often generate tensions, as parents feel their own needs are overlooked in favor of their infants' well-being.

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机器的自然化，身体的机械化：新生儿重症监护室的人格建构。

早产儿是一项医疗和社会挑战。他们在新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）的极限状态可能危及父母对他们人格的认可，甚至他们作为人的地位。意识到这可能会影响婴儿的康复，新生儿团队制定了一些材料和象征性的策略，这些策略吸引了被视为“自然”的做法，并期望父母这样做。我们认为，这一过程同时将新生儿重症监护室重新配置为一个更“自然”的环境，同时使母亲的身体功能机械化。这些动态经常产生紧张，因为父母觉得他们自己的需求被忽视了，而有利于婴儿的幸福。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Medical Anthropology Multiple-

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

4.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Medical Anthropology provides a global forum for scholarly articles on the social patterns of ill-health and disease transmission, and experiences of and knowledge about health, illness and wellbeing. These include the nature, organization and movement of peoples, technologies and treatments, and how inequalities pattern access to these. Articles published in the journal showcase the theoretical sophistication, methodological soundness and ethnographic richness of contemporary medical anthropology. Through the publication of empirical articles and editorials, we encourage our authors and readers to engage critically with the key debates of our time. Medical Anthropology invites manuscripts on a wide range of topics, reflecting the diversity and the expanding interests and concerns of researchers in the field.