Pregnancy Power and Maternal Health Practices Among the Toto Tribe in India

Totopara in West Bengal shelters one of India’s most remote and culturally distinct indigenous groups, the Toto. This ethnographic study explores how pregnancy and maternal care are practiced within the community, revealing an intricate interplay between ancestral traditions and emerging biomedical influences. Through participant observation, interviews, and focus group discussions with women, elders, traditional healers, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), and health officials, the research highlights that maternal care is deeply rooted in supernatural protection, ritual purity, and social solidarity—manifested in practices like Bete Puja and Madipapo. As biomedical interventions expand, they are not replacing but blending with customary knowledge, forming a dynamic model of medical pluralism. Nonetheless, barriers such as linguistic gaps, limited cultural sensitivity among non-Toto workers, and the decline of ritual knowledge hinder trust in institutional care. Despite these challenges, the Totos demonstrate agency in selectively adapting modern health services while preserving their cosmology and identity. The study contributes to anthropological debates on indigenous health and modernization, underscoring the importance of culturally responsive maternal health strategies that respect indigenous epistemologies and promote collaboration between biomedical and traditional systems.