Homeless pregnant women in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Brazil: reflections and challenges to public policies

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the daily routine of homeless pregnant women and their relation to public policies in the city of Santos, State of São Paulo. Data was collected through the record and study of narratives of life memories. The analysis was conducted through the thematic grouping of excerpts of narratives, and four main categories were identified: life on the street; care and pregnancy; future projects; and public services. The narratives reveal women with creative ability to desire a better life based on the possibility of having a child. However, the social condition in which they live, which involves the daily struggle for survival and, in some cases, drug addiction, hinders the planning of strategies to transform the desire into a life project. Thus, most of them lose custody of their children. Although they know the public services, they go to them only in emergencies, mostly. We have not identified, in the network of care services - public and third sector -, programs focusing on the issue of homeless pregnant women, even though Brazil already witnesses, today, stories of families who have the homeless situation as an intergenerational experience. The results point to the need of making intersectoral policies targeted at homeless pregnant women.