Trabajo y gestión de alto riesgo por diabetes: dos circumstancias difíciles de conciliar
Work and pregnancy at high risk from diabetes: two incompatible circumstances
Rev. panam. salud pública; 1 (3), 1997
Publication year: 1997
In 1991 the prevalence of diabetes was 7.6% in women in nine Brazilian state capitals.This disease now ranks among the leading causes of death in the country and is becoming an increasingly alarming public health problem. In spite of advances in the treatment of diabetes and improved obstetric care, gestational diabetes puts a pregnant woman at high risk of spontaneous abortion, ketoacidosis, hypoglycemia, hypertension, and other serious disorders. This study used life histories to investigate the relationship between health, sexuality, and work in five working women who were diabetic and pregnant and who received care at the Prenatal Care Outpatient Clinic of the San Pablo Hospital. All these women had non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, were between 26 and 43 years old, and earned from US$ 150 to 375 per month for working 8-hour days, with one day off each week. Two of the women’s male partners were unemployed; all of the women performed household chores during their day off.
Quotations taken directly from conversations with the five participants reveal:
the difficulty of caring for children and working; the sexual harassment that some of them suffered; the conflict and dissatisfaction associated with work; the myth of the natural joy of motherhood; the sexual control exercised by males; the interference of working conditions and work activities with pregnancy; and the perception that they did not have legal protection owing to employers’ lack of respect for workers’ rights and for the maternity protection provisions of the Federal Constitution of Brazil. It is concluded that health policies should pay greater attention to improving the quality of life of working women, especially if they suffer from diabetes and are pregnant
En 1991, la prevalencia de diabetes era de 7,6% en mujeres de nueve capitales brasileñas. Esta enfermedad ya consta entre las principales causas de defunción en ese país y se está convirtiendo en un problema de salud pública cada vez más alarmante. A pesar de los avances en el tratamiento de la diabetes y una mejor atención obstétrica, la diabetes gestacional pone a la embarazada en alto riesgo de aborto espontáneo, cetoacidosis, hipoglucemia, hipertensión y otros trastornos graves. En este estudio se investigaron mediante historias de vida las relaciones entre salud, sexualidad y trabajo en cinco mujeres diabéticas embarazadas atendidas en el Ambulatorio de Atención Prenatal del Hospital San Pablo. Todas tenían diabetes mellitus no insulinodependiente, entre 26 y 43 años de edad y ganaban mensualmente de US$ 150 a 375 por 8 horas de trabajo diario, con un descanso semanal. Dos tenían compañeros desempleados; todas realizaban las tareas domésticas del hogar durante el día de descanso.