Mi investigación aquí en Arica

Hi everyone!

Sorry it's been awhile. During the week, I feel like I've gotten so adjusted to the routine of so much class that when I'm not in class or working on an assignment, I'm sleeping haha. No joke... with the free time between our first and second class (12-3 PM), I come home to eat lunch and take at least an hour nap. It's really refreshing but sometimes leaves me pretty groggy for our public health seminar classes. Oh well... everything I need to know for that class is in the book they gave us, so I can always revise it later :)

I thought I'd talk a little about the progress I've been making on my research here in Arica. Since my program includes class, culture, and research, we have all been working on narrowing down our interests to find one interesting topic to explore here. I definitely want to work in the public sector here, as the main hospital is run through the public insurance called FONASA. I am really interested in maternal health, and luckily upwards of 200 babies are born here each month, making it a great place to get some data!

Hospital Dr Juan Noe Crevani (named after a famous physician who gave back to the community)

 I hopefully will be working within the maternity section of the hospital, and my goal is to compare the mothers who naturally give birth (through birth canal) versus the mothers who give birth by cesarean section (operation). I am interested to see if there is a connection between the indigenous group, the Aymara, located in Northern Chile and an increased rate of cesarean section. My thought process is that these two would be connected maybe due to some hereditary pelvis size/shape, as Aymara women are typically shorter (average around 5 feet). This is a huge leap/assumption, but hopefully something interesting will emerge from my data!

The hospital has created "Aymara birthing suites" to encourage and incentivize Aymara women to give birth in the hospital, as opposed to at home- Chilean law requires women to give birth in a hospital. They are welcome to bring family members, special herbs, and their midwife.

Aymara women

Because of the research I am doing here, I was able to apply and receive the GW Study Abroad Office "Commitment to Community" scholarship for this semester. I love that I am being rewarded for something I am so passionate and interested in doing!

Hope you find my research as interesting as I do :) As always, I am super open to questions! marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu
- Marisa