latinasandbcjc

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The Stigma of Birth Control Amongst Latinx Community

The reason I chose this topic is very personal. After finding myself in specific state of health, I learned that much of my symptoms could have been prevented if taken to the OBGYN sooner. So I find myself asking the question, why was birth control never discussed with me? When I asked my mother, she simply said this isn’t something we talk about and she never learned this either. Which led me to ask, is does happening to everyone in the Latina community?

While conducting my research I learned, “recent data suggests that women of Latina descent are three times more likely to experience an unintended pregnancy than Caucasian women” (Venkat et al., 2008). This is alarming because, “By the year 2020, one in five teenagers will be Latino”. (Gilliam et al., 2004).

I found there are many different reasons as to why Latinas do not take birth control. Many start but fail to be consistent, others do not find the means, and mistrust in the doctor. I also found an incredible lack of education amongst the Latinx community. The articles across the board discussed the lack of communication between children and parents. Campo attributed this to cultural undertones of Marianismo and Machismo.

Future research needs to still be conducted as many of these studies date back to 1998. However a key point mentioned by all is that our healthcare workers needs to be transparent with all the side effects of birth control and it’s efficacy. With respect to facilitating communication between parents and children. The articles talk about creating social programs to assist parents. Sadly, I could not find any links online or any Youtube videos on how to talk to your child about sex in Spanish.

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Meaning of Abbreviations

Oral Contraceptive Pill (OCP)

Ortho-Evra Patch (Patch)

Intrauterine Device (IUD)

Depo-Provera injection (DMPA)

Obstetrics and Gynecology Doctor (OBGYN)

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Limitations on Research

All but one of these research studies were conducted at an OGYN's office. We must try researching at high schools, highly visited Latin super markets to be a better idea of the community.

Some were done with the assistance of an interpreter while others were done with a native Spanish speaker. In the article, El Sexo no es Malo, the researcher spoke Spanish and obtained more honest answers.

This research needs to be applied to other cultural backgrounds to Central Americans, Caribbeans, and South Americans to see if this is shared across the board.

We must also apply this to different socio-economic classes. The majority of this researched focus on lower income families. It would be interesting to see if this is the same across the board.

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How do we fix it?

"Interventions should be designed to encourage communication at various levels: within families with children, between spouses or partners, among women, and with health care providers."

(Campo et al., 2014)

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Does Religion Affect use of Birth Control?

"Religions tells you that you are not supposed to engage in sexual relations until you are married and if you do you are a bad person. And because of that you don’t tell anyone anything because nobody wants to be a bad person. Therefore, you don’t tell anyone or don’t ask for opinions on what type of methods you can use because if you do you are a bad person. And in the church when you are preparing to get married you go to preparatory marriage classes and they talk to you about sex as if it was something bad and they tell you that you are not supposed to use any type of birth control method or contraceptives because that goes against the religion and God is going to be mad." (Gilliam et al., 2004)

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How to fix this issue?

"Counselors and healthcare providers should focus on the safety and reversibility of methods, identify concerns about potential adverse effects and address individual beliefs about each method in an attempt to decrease the disparities in reproductive health care experienced by Latinas." (Venkat et al., 2008)

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Talking at Home

“...Your parents never really talk to you about birth control. You know, because if your parents are very traditionally Mexican, then birth control is wrong and sex itself is bad when you are young and not married...They want you to be a dignified woman. You know like respectful to yourself, and nice, and not sleeping around, not having sex when you are young, not getting pregnant because that means you have sex, you know but I mean they are just trying to keep your dignity intact.” (Gilliam et al., 2004)

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"Early adolescence Latinas were highly aware of cultural mores or “traditional views” of women. Marianismo, a core cultural value, may dictate this view of women. In this construct, the female gender role is one of modesty, fidelity, and virginity, and overt female sexuality is frowned upon." (Gilliam et al., 2004)

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"Communication about sex or family planning with men was usually discussed in relation to culture and/or religion. One woman summed up what most of the women expressed about communication with men:

For me is like the main one [barrier to preventing unintended pregnancy] is that my country is very machista [overly masculine, manly] and women feel inhibited in a certain way to tell their partners that they need to plan and they agree to whatever they [their partners] say, so then because of that they agree to have sex without taking care of themselves and the result is unintended pregnancies."

(Campo et al., 2014)

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Talking about Sex with Latino Parents

Latino parents were less likely to speak with their children about sex than were parents in other ethnic groups. Latino parents considered many topics related to sex and sexuality to be taboo. (Campo et al., 2014)

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These ladies all speak about their experiences with contraceptives. All of them talked to their parents about it and realized that they had much more pleasant reactions to their parents finding out that they were on birth control. Most of these women seemed very relieved for their parents to find out what they were doing.

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Large Families as Part of Culture

“Latina women’s low rates of contraceptive use may reflect their desire for large families, rather than their failure to obtain and use contraceptives effectively.” (Unger et al., 1998)

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“Porque uno de mujer vale una ves. Una mujer pierde muchas cosas. Pierde la dignidad, pierde la virginidad. Pierde que la gente hable de uno.” (M: “Because as women, we are worth something only once. A woman can lose many things. She loses her dignity, her virginity. She loses out because people talk.” (Romo et al., 2010)

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"The United States has a long-standing history of imposing forced sterilization, unconsented contraceptive testing, and contraceptive coercion on women of color; Latinas are no exception. Moreover, concerns regarding equity and autonomy during contraceptive counseling persist as women of color still report being specifically discouraged from childbearing by providers, receiving incomplete contraceptive information from providers, and feeling implicit pressure to initiate certain contraceptive methods after provider-initiated counseling". (Cicerchia et al., 2022) Could this be the reason Latinas fail to use their contraception?

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85% percent of women surveyed agreed they expected their doctor to tell them about the side effects of birth control when we discussed my birth control options. The same percent of females also agreed knowing the side effects of birth control was also important in order to use it. (Cicerchia et al., 2022)