Seron Primary Care Center, Northern Almería Integrated Healthcare Area, 04600 Huercal-Overa, Almería, Spain.
Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almería, 04120 La Cañada, Almería, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 14;18(8):4149. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18084149.
A significant proportion of scientific studies consider pregnant and breastfeeding women as vulnerable subjects. The objective of this study was to analyse the perception of pregnant and breastfeeding women regarding their participation in environmental research studies. Our work is a descriptive and interpretative observational study that has been developed under the qualitative research paradigm following a phenomenological and ethnographic perspective. The study involved 173 women selected intentionally in two Spanish autonomous communities. To obtain the primary data, we relied upon 111 interviews, four focused ethnographies and eight focus groups. The data encoding and analysis was carried out with the help of NVivo 12 software (QSR International, Boston, MA, USA). We evidenced the need of pregnant and breastfeeding women for more detailed and accurate information on the risk of environmental pollutant exposure during their crucial life stage. In addition, these women claimed for a more participatory role in research studies. Pregnant and breastfeeding women in Spain ask for greater interaction with researchers and propose a dialogical relationship between valid partners. We conclude that our pregnant and breastfeeding women claim more research focused on their collective, as well as clearer, more accessible and structured information on the risks of exposure to environmental contaminants. In addition, they do not want to simply be informants; rather, they ask to be active and empowered members by providing their opinions and arguments throughout the research process.
相当一部分科学研究将孕妇和哺乳期妇女视为弱势群体。本研究旨在分析孕妇和哺乳期妇女对参与环境研究的看法。我们的工作是在定性研究范式下，遵循现象学和民族志的视角进行的描述性和解释性观察研究。该研究涉及在两个西班牙自治区有意选择的 173 名妇女。为了获取原始数据，我们依赖于 111 次访谈、4 次重点民族志和 8 次焦点小组。数据编码和分析是借助 NVivo 12 软件（QSR International，Boston，MA，USA）完成的。我们证明了孕妇和哺乳期妇女在其关键生命阶段需要更多关于环境污染物暴露风险的详细和准确信息。此外，这些妇女要求在研究中发挥更具参与性的作用。西班牙的孕妇和哺乳期妇女要求与研究人员进行更多的互动，并提议在有效伙伴之间建立对话关系。我们得出结论，我们的孕妇和哺乳期妇女要求更多关注她们的集体的研究，以及更清晰、更易获取和结构化的有关接触环境污染物风险的信息。此外，她们不想仅仅作为信息提供者；相反，她们要求在整个研究过程中提供意见和论点，成为积极和有能力的成员。
