Mental health in pregnant ecuadorian indigenous women during the covid-19 pandemic. Approaches from critical feminism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18537/mskn.16.02.12Keywords:
indigenous women, motherhood, mental health, COVID-19, critical feminismAbstract
The study aimed to analyze the experiences of pregnancy and childbirth in indigenous women during the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were seven women from the community of San Francisco de Huarcay. Data collection involved focus groups and participatory interviews, framed within larger community intervention action research carried out during the first half of 2024. The narratives were subsequently analyzed through content analysis and made it possible to identify and interpret: a) negative experiences encountered by women in their interactions with health services, characterized as obstetric violence; b) emotional responses due confinement and family separation during obstetric procedures; and c) a subjective sense of well-being in some women, connected to family support and cultural practices. It is argued that the determinants of mental health are intersectional and underpinned by processes of inequity, which are exacerbated in extreme situations.
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