Care of pregnant women who use drugs: Analysis of practices in public health policies in Southern Brazil

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss care practices used with pregnant drug users in public policies, considering how gender relations inf luence health practices. This is an ethnographic research on attention to pregnant women, who are crack users, in a psychiatric unit in a public hospital and a Clinic in the Street in Rio Grande do Sul. This research was based on intersectional and decolonial feminist studies, as well as the notion of moral economy. The use of drugs by women for recreational purposes is often considered inappropriate and grounds for stigma because it deviates from the normativity of what is expected from being a woman, that are often morally judged. Moreover, the analysis points out how the biopolitical production of a unique imaginary o nmotherhood affects the way in which public policies act towards women. This becomes a fundamental point when considering the social context in which these women are inserted. Thus, the article highlights the importance of intersectional analysis of gender, race and class for public drug policies.