Leocadia. Relato de una parturienta a mediados del siglo XX

Abstract

This Biographical story presents a woman in the middle of the 20th Century who faced numerous births alone at home, without paper knowledge (transmitted by her mother), with no economic resources and with no enough support on the part of her husband. It is showed how this woman courageously over came the solitude and her fears. The applied methodology has been the qualitative research. The data collection technique was done through a semi-structured in depth interview. The resulting information was literally transcribed and submitted to a qualitative analysis of data. Besides, this paper also reflects the anxiety she suffered from the complications of childbirth and the importance she gave to breastfeeding. Moreover, it is perceived how her health has been damaged by multiple pregnancies. As a consequence she had to spend long periods of time in hospital. During her admissions, her oldest children looked after their youngest siblings due to scarce involvement of their father.