The Spirituality and ancestral knowledge: "Afro traditional midwifery"

Abstract

The practice of traditional Afro midwifery is an experience inherited from Africa, an ancestral legacy that endures, it is a very special community practice, which is part of the spirituality in Afro-descendant communities, which is learned through oral tradition, the whole ritual is inherited since they are children, watching and accompanying their mothers or grandmothers, who are the eldest midwives. In Venezuela, midwifery is present in many rural areas, indigenous and Afro-Venezuelan communities, where the knowledge inherited from our native and African peoples is congregated. As for traditional Afro midwifery, in the Afro-descendant enclave of Chuao in the state of Aragua, its inhabitants give testimony of its existence as a living cultural manifestation that is part of the traditions, popular knowledge and lived experiences of the women and spiritual mothers of the town. In this paper we will know the testimonies and experiences of six Afro-Venezuelan women that from the subjective interpretation of the feelings of Afro women and the "emotional geography", allowed us to unveil a plurality of knowledge about the spirituality of traditional Afro midwifery.