Desafios no cuidado de crianças nascidas de mães com diagnóstico de COVID-19 durante a pandemia

Objetivo: Compreender os desafios no cuidado de crianças nascidas de mães com COVID-19 durante a pandemia.Método: Pesquisa qualitativa, realizada de novembro de 2020 a maio de 2021, em duas maternidades públicas, com mulheres que tiveram filhos na primeira onda da pandemia, diagnosticadas com COVID-19, durante a gestação e/ou parto. Realizaram-se 19 entrevistas semiestruturadas com análise temática. Utilizou-se do Interacionismo Simbólico como referencial teórico.Resultados: Identificaram-se mudanças nos cuidados a crianças recém-nascidas. No ambiente doméstico, as medidas de higiene com o recém-nascido foram redobradas, o isolamento social restringiu a rede de apoio e as mães se sentiram sozinhas e sobrecarregadas. No âmbito assistencial, houve retrocesso no cuidado neonatal e interrupção de cuidados profissionais, como suspensão de consultas.Conclusão: A pandemia reestruturou os modelos tradicionais de cuidados familiares, intensificou as dificuldades de acesso à saúde e expôs as crianças a riscos inerentes à falta de acompanhamento.Descritores: COVID-19. Cuidado da criança. Relações mãe-filho. Saúde da criança

De peito aberto: câncer e gestão do cotidiano entre mulheres

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de JaneiroO objetivo desta tese é analisar experiências de adoecimento e seus desdobramentos na vida cotidiana, a partir do relato de mulheres que tiveram câncer de mama e realizaram tratamento médico. A maior parte da pesquisa de observação participante foi realizada numa associação de apoio durante os anos de 2005/2006. Neste período acompanhei as atividades propostas por um grupo de profissionais de saúde voluntários interessados em resgatar a auto-estima destas mulheres. Analiso o diálogo estabelecido entre tais profissionais e as freqüentadoras da associação, em sua quase totalidade constituída por mulheres de classes populares, a fim de perceber valores que norteiam comportamentos e discursos sobre a doença. Além do registro de uma relação hierarquizada entre profissionais e leigos, analiso o diálogo (mais igualitário) das mulheres entre si e suas reflexões a respeito de suas vidas, formulando concepções etiológicas acerca da doença que as atingiu, assim como sobre o momento em que suas vidas se encontravam quando da descoberta do câncer. Uma vez finalizado o percurso terapêutico, de volta para casa, as estratégias adotadas consistem em retomar sua vida como era ?antes?. As formas cotidianas da gestão das marcas do câncer no corpo são analisadas do ponto de vista de minhas informantes e tratam de temas relativos à conjugalidade e ao trabalho doméstico. Enfim, trato do sofrimento instituinte de certo tipo de feminilidade.The goal of this thesis is to analyze illness experiences and their repercussions on the everyday life, starting from the narrative of women who have had breast cancer and have submitted themselves to medical treatment. The participant observation conducted was taken place in a , during the years 2005/2006. During this support association time followed the activities proposed by a group of health professional volunteers, which aimed at rescuing the self-esteem of those women. In order to apprehend the values that guide behaviors and discourses about the disease, I analyzed the dialogue between these professionals and the "object? of their intervention, composed almost entirely of Brazilian lower-class women. Besides the more hierarchical relationship between experts and the women, I analyzed the more egalitarian dialogue established by those women among themselves, and their concern about their lives, and their etiological conceptions about the disease. The focus is on everyday ways of managing the marks of cancer in their bodies related to conjugality and domestic labor, and on suffering and distress as institutive of a kind of femininity

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physicians’ Working Hours and Earnings in São Paulo and Maranhão States, Brazil

Evidence exists on the health impacts of the current COVID-19 pandemic on health workers, but less is known about its impact on their work dynamics and livelihoods. This matters, as health workers—and physicians in particular—are a scarce and expensive resource in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our cross-sectional survey set out to explore changes in working hours and earnings during the second year of the pandemic in a representative sample of 1183 physicians in Brazil’s São Paulo (SP) and Maranhão (MA) states. Descriptive analysis and inferential statistics were employed to explore differences in working hours and earnings among public and private sector physicians across the two locations. The workloads and earnings of doctors working exclusively in the public sector increased the most in the second year of the epidemic, particularly in MA. Conversely, the largest proportion of private-only doctors in our sample saw a decrease in their working hours (48.4%, 95% CI 41.8–55.0), whereas the largest proportion of public-only doctors in MA saw an increase in their working hours (44.4%, 95% CI 38.0–50.8). Although earnings remained broadly stable in the public sector, a third of public sector-only physicians in MA saw an increase in their earnings (95% CI 24.4–36.2). More than half of private-only doctors across both states saw a decrease in their earnings (52.2%, 95% CI 45.6–58.8). The largest proportion of dual practitioners (the majority in Brazil and in our sample) maintained their pre-pandemic levels of income (38.8%, 95% CI 35.3–42.3). As public-sector doctors have been key in the fight against the pandemic, it is critical to invest in these cadres in order to develop epidemic preparedness in LMICs, and to find new ways to harness for-profit actors to deliver social benefits

Desafios no cuidado de crianças nascidas de mães com diagnóstico de COVID-19 durante a pandemia

Objetivo: Compreender os desafios no cuidado de crianças nascidas de mães com COVID-19 durante a pandemia.Método: Pesquisa qualitativa, realizada de novembro de 2020 a maio de 2021, em duas maternidades públicas, com mulheres que tiveram filhos na primeira onda da pandemia, diagnosticadas com COVID-19, durante a gestação e/ou parto. Realizaram-se 19 entrevistas semiestruturadas com análise temática. Utilizou-se do Interacionismo Simbólico como referencial teórico.Resultados: Identificaram-se mudanças nos cuidados a crianças recém-nascidas. No ambiente doméstico, as medidas de higiene com o recém-nascido foram redobradas, o isolamento social restringiu a rede de apoio e as mães se sentiram sozinhas e sobrecarregadas. No âmbito assistencial, houve retrocesso no cuidado neonatal e interrupção de cuidados profissionais, como suspensão de consultas.Conclusão: A pandemia reestruturou os modelos tradicionais de cuidados familiares, intensificou as dificuldades de acesso à saúde e expôs as crianças a riscos inerentes à falta de acompanhamento.Descritores: COVID-19. Cuidado da criança. Relações mãe-filho. Saúde da criança

Maternal health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of health workers in three Brazilian municipalities.

ObjectiveTo analyze the experiences of maternal health workers in three Brazilian cities, located in the Northeast (São Luís), Southeast (Niterói), and South (Pelotas) regions during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsQualitative research carried out between December 2020 and February 2021. Interviews were conducted, in person or remotely, with 30 health workers, doctors and nurses, working in maternity hospitals of different degrees of complexity.ResultsSociodemographic characteristics, employment relationships and professional qualification of the interviewees were described. Two thematic axes were identified: 1) changes in hospital organization and dynamics in the pandemic; 2) Illness and suffering of health workers. The majority of respondents were women. Most physicians had work relationships in the public and private sectors. In Niterói, health workers had better professional qualifications and more precarious work relationships (as temporary hires), compared to São Luís and Pelotas. In the context of the uncertainties resulting from the pandemic, this situation generated even more insecurity for those workers. The statements at the beginning of the pandemic covered topics such as changes in the organizational dynamics of services, healthcare, telemedicine, and interaction between health workers and users. In the health workers' perception, the initial period of the health emergency, which resulted in intense changes in the provision of services, was marked by an increase in preterm births, perinatal mortality, and fetal losses. Work overload, fear of contamination, concern for family members and uncertainties regarding the new disease caused intense suffering in health workers who had little institutional support in the cities studied. The suffering experienced by health workers went beyond the work dimension, reaching their private life.ConclusionChanges caused by the pandemic required immediate adjustments in professional practices, generating insecurities in healthcare regardless of the location studied. The method of hiring health workers remained the same as the previously practiced one in each city. Due to the risk of disease transmission, measures contrary to humanization practices, and more restrictive in São Luís, were reported as harmful to obstetric care. The Covid-19 pandemic was a huge challenge for the Brazilian health system, aggravating the working conditions experienced by health workers. In addition to the work environment, it was possible to briefly glimpse its effects on private life

Experiences of women in prenatal, childbirth, and postpartum care during the COVID-19 pandemic in selected cities in Brazil: The resignification of the experience of pregnancy and giving birth.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted public and private health systems around the world, impairing good practices in women's health care. However, little is known about the experiences, knowledge, and feelings of Brazilian women in this period. The objective was to analyze the experiences of women, seen at maternity hospitals accredited by the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS, acronym in Portuguese), regarding health care during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum periods, their interpersonal relationships, and perceptions and feelings about the pandemic. This was a qualitative, exploratory research, carried out in three Brazilian municipalities with women hospitalized in 2020, during pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum period, with COVID-19 or not. For data collection, semi-structured individual interviews (in person, by telephone, or by digital platform) were conducted, recorded and transcribed. The content analysis of thematic modalities was displayed as per the following axes: i) Knowledge about the disease; ii) Search for health care in prenatal, childbirth, and postpartum periods; iii) Experience of suffering from COVID-19; iv) Income and work; and v) Family dynamics and social support network. A total of 46 women were interviewed in São Luís-MA, Pelotas-RS, and Niterói-RJ. Use of media was important to convey information and fight fake news. The pandemic negatively impacted access to health care in the prenatal, childbirth, and postpartum periods, contributing to worsening of the population's social and economic vulnerabilities. Women experienced diverse manifestations of the disease, and psychic disorders were very frequent. Social isolation during the pandemic disrupted the support network of these women, who found social support strategies in communication technologies. Women-centered care-including qualified listening and mental health support-can reduce the severity of COVID-19 cases in pregnant, parturient, and postpartum women. Sustainable employment and income maintenance policies are essential to mitigate social vulnerabilities and reduce risks for these women