“Mãe é quem cuida": a legitimidade da maternidade no discurso de mães de bebês com microcefalia em Pernambuco

Abstract

The research began after the large number of babies born with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, with the epicenter being the Northeast region of the country. The epidemic stirred the dynamics of various spheres of social life, such as political, socio-environmental, economic and religious. Women, mothers of babies with microcephaly, in Pernambuco, have organized themselves in movements such as the Union of Mothers of Angels (UMA), building networks of support and solidarity, sharing experiences about the care of "angels" or "special children" "(As they call their children), and claim, in a language of rights, aid with the State and competent bodies. In this sense, this analysis is based on ethnographic work done at the UMA meetings between February and December 2016. Starting from three life trajectories of mothers of children diagnosed with what is now called in the biomedical field as "Zika virus Congenital Syndrome" (SCZv), I try to understand the representations around the experience of motherhood, in order to apprehend the productions of meanings and conceptions about kinship relations.