Health care itineraries for women in situations of abortion: methodological aspects of a qualitative study for Birth in Brazil II survey.

In recent decades, several academic studies on abortion have been produced in Brazil, with different designs, objectives, and methodologies. However, due to the diversity of situations in which Brazilian women experience abortion, the complexity of this topic, and its modulations in different political and sociocultural contexts, it still challenges academicians and the fields of health and reproductive rights. In this article, we present methodological aspects of a qualitative study on health care itineraries of women in situations of abortion, a component of the Birth in Brazil II survey, whose objective is to discuss the effects of gender; race/ethnicity; social class; generational, regional, and territorial inequalities on care itineraries.

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Introduction: Brazilian legislation restricts the practice of abortion. In Brazil, abortion is a major public health problem due to the morbidity, mortality and hospitalization caused by the practice of unsafe abortions. Complications related to induced abortion and miscarriages are treated in “maternity wards”, where obstetric violence can be perpetrated.

Abortion and the COVID-19 pandemic: insights for Latin America.

The COVID-19 pandemic may accentuate existing problems, hindering access to legal abortion, with a consequent increase in unsafe abortions. This scenario may be even worse in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Latin America, where abortion laws are already restrictive and access to services is already hampered. Our objective was to understand how different countries, with an emphasis on Latin Americans, have dealt with legal abortion services in the context of the COVID-19.

The ultrasound scene in abortion care: practices and meanings in a public maternity hospital in Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil.

This article aims to analyze the practices and meanings involved in obstetric ultrasound (USG) in women undergoing abortion at public maternity hospital in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. This is a qualitative ethnographic study that included three months of participant observation in the interactions between these women and medical and non-medical staff in the USG room of a public maternity hospital. USG has a central place in women's abortion itinerary, and its practice is incorporated into the institution's routine and the definition of approaches to abortion care at the maternity hospital studied here.

[Social representations of community health agents regarding drug use].

This paper discusses on the social representations of community health agents (CHAs) about drug use as part of a qualitative, ethnographic study with data collected by means of a set of research techniques among health professionals including 22 CHAs in a basic health unit in Salvador, Bahia (Brazil) from January, 2006 to January, 2007. The Theory of Social Representations was adopted as the theoretical framework whereas gender was the chosen analytical category. CHAs were found to recognize the women's proximity and participation in the drug phenomenon in the community where they live and act, although they take no professional measures towards such an issue.