Maribel Mella Guzmán
University of Chile, Chile
Title: Challenges for the empowerment of pregnant women in Primary Health Care in Chile
Biography
Biography: Maribel Mella Guzmán
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).