Having children during the Zika epidemic in Brazil (2015–2017)?
Type de matériel :
TexteLangue : français Détails de publication : 2025.
Ressources en ligne : Abrégé : Introduction: In 2015, the Zika virus epidemic emerged in several Pacific and South American countries. In Brazil, where it spread particularly rapidly, it became a public health emergency. The Zika virus disease soon became associated with a new pathology, congenital Zika virus syndrome, which affects children in utero. In the rush to manage the health crisis, one question was largely overlooked: What adjustments, adaptations, or compromises were encouraged or made regarding the reproductive lives of women and couples at the time? Method: This article seeks to analyze the experiences of women of childbearing age during the Zika virus epidemic in Brazil through two types of material. The first part presents a summary of recent multidisciplinary studies on reproductive life (fertility, pregnancy plans, birth rates) during and after the Zika virus epidemic. The second part focuses more specifically on middle-class and upper-class women who were planning to become pregnant at the time, some of whom were undergoing medically assisted reproduction, drawing on ethnographic research conducted in 2017 and 2018. Results: These data give rise to a reflection on pregnancy management and the administration of risk and uncertainty in times of health crisis. The latter disrupts pregnancy plans idealized by women and regulated by reproductive professionals, leading to changes in how women make reproductive decisions. Discussion: The study of the social conditions in which women face dilemmas regarding their reproductive lives sheds light on how health policies and the mobilization of medical technologies shape reproductive norms in the context of an epidemic, as well as the adjustments, compromises, or constraints they produce in women’s decision-making.
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Introduction: In 2015, the Zika virus epidemic emerged in several Pacific and South American countries. In Brazil, where it spread particularly rapidly, it became a public health emergency. The Zika virus disease soon became associated with a new pathology, congenital Zika virus syndrome, which affects children in utero. In the rush to manage the health crisis, one question was largely overlooked: What adjustments, adaptations, or compromises were encouraged or made regarding the reproductive lives of women and couples at the time? Method: This article seeks to analyze the experiences of women of childbearing age during the Zika virus epidemic in Brazil through two types of material. The first part presents a summary of recent multidisciplinary studies on reproductive life (fertility, pregnancy plans, birth rates) during and after the Zika virus epidemic. The second part focuses more specifically on middle-class and upper-class women who were planning to become pregnant at the time, some of whom were undergoing medically assisted reproduction, drawing on ethnographic research conducted in 2017 and 2018. Results: These data give rise to a reflection on pregnancy management and the administration of risk and uncertainty in times of health crisis. The latter disrupts pregnancy plans idealized by women and regulated by reproductive professionals, leading to changes in how women make reproductive decisions. Discussion: The study of the social conditions in which women face dilemmas regarding their reproductive lives sheds light on how health policies and the mobilization of medical technologies shape reproductive norms in the context of an epidemic, as well as the adjustments, compromises, or constraints they produce in women’s decision-making.




Réseaux sociaux