Invisible Chronic Pain: Testimonial Narratives and the Institutional Normalization of Reproductive Suffering in Public Health Systems

Chronic reproductive pain often remains invisible within public health systems that prioritize demographic targets and short-term clinical outcomes over women’s long-term well-being. This article examines how testimonial narratives reveal structural dimensions of reproductive suffering obscured in institutional health records. Drawing on a narrative documented in the People’s Archive of Rural India, it analyzes a woman’s prolonged reproductive pain following the nonconsensual insertion of a postpartum intrauterine device (IUD). Employing qualitative narrative analysis informed by feminist medical humanities, chronic illness studies, and phenomenology, the article conceptualizes reproductive pain as slow violence produced through institutional neglect, coercive family planning, and diagnostic dismissal. It argues for recognizing women’s testimonies as critical epistemic resources in reproductive healthcare.