Challenges for the empowerment of pregnant women in Primary Health Care in Chile

52^nd International Conference on Nursing & Primary Healthcare

July 20, 2021 Webinar

Maribel Mella Guzman

University of Chile, Chile

Keynote: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

Primary Health Care (PHC) is the fundamental pillar and gateway of the Chilean Health System. At this level, the midwife is in charge of people’s Sexual and Reproductive Health. The purpose of this presentation is to present the role of midwives in PHC in terms of empowering gestational support and the challenges that this currently presents. Their role is essential in the accompaniment of women and their families since they are in charge of promoting a healthy pregnancy, prevention and maintenance of healthy lifestyles, early detection and timely referral of pathologies. The educational and empowering role of this professional stands out, placing her as a facilitating and empowering figure for women’s autonomy; however, the challenges she faces are important: to overcome the hegemonic position of the health professional in order to remedy the state of submission in which pregnant women have been placed, to retake group education, which has shown better results in terms of empowerment, to incorporate the intersectional view in order to understand more deeply the differences and particularities of pregnant women, to incorporate an intercultural perspective that allows immigrant women and women belonging to indigenous peoples to feel represented and respected in the current health system and finally, to achieve a real communication and continuity of health care between the primary level (prenatal care) and the tertiary level (delivery care).

Biography :

Maribel Mella Guzman is a Magister in Bioethics and Assistant Professor at the University of Chile with more than 10 years of experience. She has dedicated herself to the study of the autonomy of women in particular in the period of pregnancy and of gender violence also in pregnant women.