title: ["I was like a ticking bomb": Experiences of severe maternal morbidity in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires].
abstract: With the objective of recording and analyzing women's experiences with severe maternal morbidity from their perspective, between February and May 2011, 16 semi-structured interviews with women treated in the public hospitals of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area who suffered from severe maternal morbidity were carried out. In their testimonies, women report a number of delays in care, such as difficulties in identifying the problem on time, obstacles in accessing health centers and important faults in the management of obstetric emergencies. They describe the event as surprising, distressing and painful, a perception reinforced by the violation of their rights and significant communication problems. These findings are meant as a step towards the holistic and comprehensive study of severe maternal morbidity, as well as to confirm the urgent need for further research from a gender and humans rights perspective.
authors.affiliation: Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina.
authors.forename: Dalia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Szulik
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad, Agencia de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Argentina.
authors.forename: Lucila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Szwarc
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001118:Argentina; D057210:Delayed Diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D028701:Patient Rights; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014933:Women's Rights; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Pregnancy Complications; Maternal Mortality; Quality of Health Care; Argentina