MATERNAL-INFANT HEALTH POLICIES IN BRAZIL AND MEXICO

Abstract

In Mexico and Brazil, maternal and child health programs specifically target poor women. In the first context, they benefit from cash transfer in exchange for their participation in health workshops and medical. appointments. In the second, women are enrolled early in theft pregnancy in prenatal care programs. The comparative analysis of our ethnographic data, collected through fieldwork with poor women, traditional midwives, community health agents, and medical personnel, highlights two interrelated processes: the medicalization of reproductive health, and the heatthicization of female bodies. We show how medical programs in both countries, beyond the positive impacts these might have, displace reproductive decisions to state health agents, and reinforce the mechanisms of domination and regulation of poor women's bodies.