title: Babies and belonging: reproduction, citizenship, and undocumented nicaraguan labor migrant women in Costa Rica.
abstract: This article presents findings from an ethnographic study of 43 Nicaraguan labor migrant women in Costa Rica, among whom two thirds were undocumented. Drawing from more than a year of field research, this research explores how undocumented migrant women parlayed reproductive capacities in a context of a modernizing democratic host nation-state increasingly limited in its capacity to fulfill longstanding national ideals of "health for all." Pregnancy and postpartum periods presented unique opportunities for achieving gains related to citizenship. As the third most common migrant destination context in the Western hemisphere, Costa Rica is grappling with its dual role as a nation of emigration and immigration and is attempting to maintain its "exceptional" national identity in the face of rapid globalization. Due to the jus soli citizenship model, the health care system has become a site for struggle over inclusion in the Costa Rican nation-state.
authors.affiliation: Program in Health Disparities Research, Medical School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414, USA. kgoldade@umn.edu
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goldade
mesh_terms: D060432:Anthropology, Medical; D001723:Birth Rate; D003364:Costa Rica; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D009527:Nicaragua / Q000208:ethnology; D011247:Pregnancy; D046269:Reproductive Rights; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013246:Sterilization, Tubal; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D014930:Women