Midwifery, Social Outburst and Covid-19. Chilean Midwives’ Discourses about their Professional Role in Contexts of Crisis

Abstract

Introduction and aims. The Midwifery in Chile has an unquestionable social role, with a particular role in crisis contexts. It was born as a profession in the face of a socio-sanitary situation of phenomenal vulnerability of women. This research aims to analyze the discourses on the deployment and incidence of the Midwifery, in the scenarios fostered by the social outbreak of October 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and method. This research adheres to the interpretive symbolic paradigm, from a qualitative methodology, located in the case study approach, in which the data construction strategies are documentary and conversational, using documentary review techniques for written press -web and semi-structured interviews. 11 national press releases were selected and 6 semi-structured interviews were conducted with midwives who work in Primary Care, Hospital Care and Teaching. For data analysis, Veróns perspective of social semiosis and the analysis of social discourses. Results and conclusions. Faced with the social outbreak and the health crisis caused by COVID-19, the Midwifery takes an active role in denouncing, demanding and summoning the health and government authority. Making sexual and reproductive health needs visible, demanding that pregnant women be considered a priority population in the pandemic, requesting action protocols, even generating one, without obtaining a response, warning with filing legal actions to protect women and pregnant women in the country, before tacit forgetting by the Ministry of Health.