CUIDADO DE LA SALUD EN HIJOS E HIJAS LACTANTES Y PREESCOLARES DE MADRES MIGRANTES LATINOAMERICANAS

Abstract

Introduction: The increase in the population that has migrated to Chile in recent decades raises questions related to the right to health of boys and girls in charge of women who reconcile employment and the different culturally accepted forms of care. Objective: To understand the health care practices of Latin American migrant mothers with respect to their children, Atacama region, Chile. Methodology: Interpretive study, from situated ethnography; samples of maximum variation, whose unit of analysis is Latin American migrant mothers regardless of their immigration status; Inclusion criteria: with children under six years of age, and residents of the communes of Copiapó and Diego de Almagro. An in-depth interview was applied. Results: 10 migrant mothers from Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Cuba were interviewed with a stay in Chile ranging from 3 to 15 years, with infants and pre-school children up to six years old; the majority with paid jobs in service activities and users of the Public Health System (SPS). The main categories are: the migratory process, self-care and health care for children at the domestic level, and the right to health. Conclusions: Health care and self-care at the domestic level allows facing health problems with an emphasis on cultural practices learned in their countries of origin; however, depending on their complexity, they make use of the formal Chilean health system and to some degree exercise their right to health.