BRAZIL Bôca da Mata, Pacaraima - State of Roraima. October 20, 2022.
Dr. Biasdakosta examines a young mother who is in her first trimester at the health center in Boca de Mata village.

« For the past three years, Dr. Pamela Biasdakosta, 29, has been working in Boca da Mata, a village in Northeastern Brazil with a majority population of indigenous people. Her work mostly revolves around family planning and contraceptive methods. She tells me that at the moment IUDs are quite popular among indigenous women, while until a few years ago they were completely unaware of contraceptive methods. When indigenous women hear about family planning and managing pregnancies, they first come to Dr. Biasdakosta and her colleagues out of curiosity. They usually leave once they get some answers to their questions, but many of them come back after a while, requesting an IUD fitting. According to Dr. Biasdakosta, most indigenous women were initially afraid of contraceptives in general, mostly because they were under the impression that the use of contraceptive methods was a ruse to control the indigenous population. But now they have realized that IUDs can be easily removed and do not interfere with their ability to conceive and carry. Indigenous tribes in Brazil often do not have access to standard health care, which leads to problematic pregnancies and births, and of course various birth defects in babies. Now, more indigenous women have learned to prioritize family planning so they can have healthy pregnancies and healthy children. » N.T.