SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.29 issue1Social exclusion in primary healthcare settings: the time for measurement has comeMotor development analysis of three-year-old children born preterm through the Motor Development Scale - Case Report author indexsubject indexarticles search
Home Pagealphabetic serial listing  

Journal of Human Growth and Development

Print version ISSN 0104-1282On-line version ISSN 2175-3598

Abstract

ARIAS, Ana Rosa Linde; TRISTAN-CHEEVER, Elisa; FURTADO, Grace  and  SIQUEIRA, Eduardo. "I don't know if I have the courage": reproductive choices in times of Zika. J. Hum. Growth Dev. [online]. 2019, vol.29, n.1, pp. 14-21. ISSN 0104-1282.  http://dx.doi.org/10.7322/jhgd.150807.

In this transnational study, we aimed at providing insights into women's views and attitudes towards their reproductive rights during the Zika epidemic. Women of distinct nationalities and ethnicities were recruited from various locations in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the United States. We conducted semi-structured interviews that suggest that participants reproductive decisions were intimately related to personal convictions and cultural beliefs, and their actions and thoughts were embedded in their sociocultural norms. The majority of women interviewed communicated that it takes courage to make the extreme, emotional, and overwhelming decision to have an abortion. The findings of this study suggest that women from different countries and regions, and with different levels of social capital, faced the same conflicts concerning reproductive decisions. Thus, we argue for the importance of considering cultural beliefs and behaviors when implementing health prevention or protection measures to control epidemics. This epidemic may be yet another opportunity for the improvement of women's health by strengthening culturally sensitive family planning services, and a broad spectrum of public health interventions.

Keywords : women; Zika; reproductive rights; abortion; reproductive choices.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in English     · English ( pdf )

 

Creative Commons License