Dr Janet Perkins
Job Title
Research Fellow

Room number
5.14Building (Address)
Chrystal Macmillan BuildingStreet (Address)
15a George SquareCity (Address)
EdinburghPost code (Address)
EH8 9LNBackground
Research synopsis
My research focuses on the commodification of maternal health services and biomedical technologies in peri-urban and rural Bangladesh, illuminating how technology and commodification reshape the medico-social worlds of pregnancy and birth. Academic and policy discourses around burgeoning health markets in the Global South often provide an explicit or implicit moral critique of the privatisation of healthcare, predominantly portraying health markets as an outgrowth of global neoliberal hegemony and tends to be critical of their effects. My research destabilises these assumptions, attending to the situatedness of maternal health markets and the intrinsic moralities of care that emerge and are renegotiated within and in response to health markets. This research problematises tropes of health markets as amoral or immoral and elucidates emergent moralities within markets; it expands thinking into the social lives of health technologies, attending to the co-construction of advanced maternal health technologies and the social worlds of pregnancy and childbirth; and it contributes to academic and critical policy discussions as private health services mushroom throughout the Global South, extending thinking beyond reified discourses, and opening alternate imaginaries for private health sector engagements.
Awards
2023-2023 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Postdoctoral Fellowship
2019-2020 Tweedie Exploration Fellowship
Recent publications
Perkins, J. (Forthcoming) ‘“Beware of dalals": a moral world of health market brokerage in Bangladesh’. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI).
Perkins. J. (2023) ‘Fleshy entanglements in development aspirations: Birth position as a site of contestation in Bangladesh’, Medicine Anthropology Theory, 10(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.17157/mat.10.1.7303
Perkins, J. (Forthcoming)‘Achieving medical maternal health desires through dhora-dhori in Bangladesh’, Journal of the British Academy special issue on ‘Locating Trust: An Interdisciplinary Exploration’.
Banik, G., Mazumder, T. Siddique, AB., Uddin, AFM A., El Arifeen, S., Perkins, J. , Rahman, AE. (2022) ‘Taking a pulse on community participation in maternal health through community clinics in Bangladesh’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20 (3), 2271. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032271
Rahman, AE., Ameen, S., Hossain, AT., Perkins, J., Jabeen, S., Majid,T., Uddin, AFM A., Haque, MD., Islam, MS., Islam, MJ., Ashrafee, S., Alam, HMS., Saberin, A., Ahmed, S., Banik,G., Kabir, ANM E., Ahmed, A., Chisti, MJ., Cunningham, S., Dockrell, DH., Nair, H., El Arifeen, S., Campbell, H. (2022) ‘Introducing pulse oximetry for outpatient management of childhood pneumonia: An implementation research adopting a district implementation model in selected rural facilities in Bangladesh’, Lancet eClinical Medicine,50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101511
Rahman, AE., Perkins, JE., Hossain, AT., Banik, G., Jabeen, S., Wall, S., El Arifeen, S. (2022) ‘Unpacking caesarean in rural Bangladesh: Who, what, when and where’, Birth, 49 (4), p.709-718. https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12636
Rahman, AE., Perkins, JE., Salam, SS., Mhajabin, S., Hossain, AT., Mazumder, T., El Arifeen, S. (2020) ‘What do women want? An analysis of preferences of women, involvement of men, and decision-making in maternal and newborn health care in rural Bangladesh’, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 20, 169. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-020-2854-x 2020
Perkins, JE., Rahman, AE., Mhajabin, S., Siddique, AB., Mazumder, T., Haider, MR., El Arifeen, S.(2019). ‘Humanized childbirth: The status of emotional support of women during birth in rural Bangladesh’, Reproductive Health Matters, 27 (1). https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2019.1610277
Perkins, JE., Rahman, AE., Siddique, AB., Mazumder, T., Haider, MR., El Arifeen, S. (2019) ‘Awareness and perceptions of women regarding rights related to maternal health in rural Bangladesh’, Journal of Global Health, 9 (1):010415. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.09.010415
Rahman, AE., Perkins, J., Mazumder, T., Haider, MR., Siddique, AB., Capello, C., Santarelli, C., El Arifeen, S. (2019) ‘Capacities of women and men to improve maternal and newborn health: Effect of a community-based intervention package in rural Bangladesh’, Journal of Global Health, 9 (1): 010413. https://doi.org/ 10.7189/jogh.09.010413
Siddique, AB., Perkins, J., Mazumder, T., Haider, R., Banik, G., Tahsina, T., El Arifeen, S., Rahman, AE. (2018). ‘Antenatal Care in Rural Bangladesh: Gaps in adequate coverage and content,’ PLoS ONE, 13(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0205149
Perkins, JE ., Rahman, AE., Siddique, AB., Haider, MR., Banik, G., Tahsina, T., El Arifeen, S. (2018) ‘Opting for home birth in rural Bangladesh: an assessment of rates and reasons,’ Birth, 00:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12404 .
Works within
Publications by user content
Publication | Research Explorer link |
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Perkins JE. 'Beware of dalals': A moral world of health market brokerage in Bangladesh. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 2023 Oct 7. |
View |
Perkins JE. Fleshy entanglements in development aspirations: Birth position as a site of contestation in Bangladesh. Medicine Anthropology Theory. 2023 Apr 26;10(1):1-27. doi: 10.17157/mat.10.1.7303 |
View |
Banik G, Mazumder T, Siddique AB, Uddin AFMA, Arifeen SE, Perkins J et al. Taking a pulse on community participation in maternal health through community clinics in Bangladesh. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023 Jan 27;20(3):1-17. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032271 |
View |
Rahman AE, Perkins J, Hossain AT, Banik G, Jabeen S, Wall S et al. Unpacking cesarean in rural Bangladesh: Who, what, when, and where. Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care. 2022 Dec;49(4):709-718. Epub 2022 Mar 28. doi: 10.1111/birt.12636 |
View |
Rahman AE, Ameen S, Hossain AT, Perkins J, Jabeen S, Majid T et al. Introducing pulse oximetry for outpatient management of childhood pneumonia: An implementation research adopting a district implementation model in selected rural facilities in Bangladesh. EClinicalMedicine. 2022 Jun 28;50:101511. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101511 |
View |
Rahman AE, Perkins J, Salam SS, Mhajabin S, Hossain AT, Mazumder T et al. What do women want? An analysis of preferences of women, involvement of men, and decision-making in maternal and newborn health care in rural Bangladesh. BMC pregnancy and childbirth. 2020 Mar 18;20(1):1-12. 169. doi: 10.1186/s12884-020-2854-x |
View |
Perkins JE, Rahman AE, Siddique AB, Mazumder T, Haider MR, El Arifeen S. Awareness and perceptions of women regarding human rights related to maternal health in rural Bangladesh. Journal of Global Health. 2019 Jun 15;9(1):1-13. doi: 10.7189/JOGH.09.010415 |
View |
Perkins JE, Rahman AE, Siddique AB, Haider MR, Banik G, Tahsina T et al. Opting for home birth in rural Bangladesh: An assessment of the current status and reasons. Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care. 2019 Jun;46(2):362-370. Epub 2018 Oct 31. doi: 10.1111/birt.12404 |
View |
Rahman AE, Perkins J, Mazumder T, Haider MR, Siddique AB, Capello C et al. Capacities of women and men to improve maternal and newborn health: Effect of a community-based intervention package in rural Bangladesh. Journal of Global Health. 2019 Jan 4;9(1):1-16. doi: 10.7189/jogh.09.010413 |
View |
Siddique AB, Perkins J, Mazumder T, Haider MR, Banik G, Tahsina T et al. Antenatal care in rural Bangladesh: Gaps in adequate coverage and content. PLoS ONE. 2018 Nov 19;13(11):1-20. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205149 |
View |
Rahman AE, Perkins J, Islam S, Siddique AB, Moinuddin M, Anwar MR et al. Knowledge and involvement of husbands in maternal and newborn health in rural Bangladesh. BMC pregnancy and childbirth. 2018 Jun 18;18:1-12. 247. doi: 10.1186/s12884-018-1882-2 |
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Islam S, Perkins J, Siddique MB, Mazumder T, Haider MR, Rahman MM et al. Birth preparedness and complication readiness among women and couples and its association with skilled birth attendance in rural Bangladesh. PLoS ONE. 2018 Jun 7;13(6):1-15. e0197693. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197693 |
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Mazumder T, Rahman AE, Hoque E, Mahmud A, Siddique AB, Rahman M et al. Advancing person-centered maternal and newborn health care through birth preparedness and complication readiness in rural Bangladesh. International Journal of Person Centered Medicine. 2018 Jan 26;7(2):107-117. doi: 10.5750/ijpcm.v7i2.639 |
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Perkins J, Capello C, Vilgrain C, Groth L, Billoir H, Santarelli C. Determinants of low maternal and newborn health service utilization in Haiti. Journal of Women's Health, Issues and Care. 2017 Feb 21;6(1). doi: 10.4172/2325-9795.1000258 |
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Perkins J, Capello C, Maiga AB, Matié Y, Eggertswyler A, Santarelli C. The role of men in improving maternal and newborn health in Burkina Faso. International Journal of Person Centered Medicine. 2016 Oct 26;6(3):180-184. doi: 10.5750/ijpcm.v6i3.595 |
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Perkins J, Capello C, Bargo A, Santarelli C. Shared decision-making in maternal and newborn health in Burkina Faso. International Journal of Person Centered Medicine. 2015 Nov 9;5(2):68-73. doi: 10.5750/ijpcm.v5i2.526 |
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Taleb F, Perkins J, Ali NA, Capello C, Ali M, Santarelli C et al. Transforming maternal and newborn health social norms and practices to increase utilization of health services in rural Bangladesh: A qualitative review. BMC pregnancy and childbirth. 2015 Mar 29;15(75):1-11. doi: 10.1186/s12884-015-0501-8 |
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Perkins J, Bargo A, Capello C, Santarelli C. Training health workers to provide person-centred maternal and newborn health care in Burkina Faso. International Journal of Person Centered Medicine. 2013 Dec 12;3(2):154-159. doi: 10.5750/ijpcm.v3i2.405 |
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