Maternity in Times of a Pandemic: an Analysis of Mothers in the Municipality of Ponta Grossa at the end of 2020

Abstract

This study sought to analyze the experiences of women mothers during part of the COVID­19 pandemic in the municipality of Ponta Grossa (PR), based on the assumptions of the history of present time. The main objective of the research was to understand the impacts of the pandemic on the experiences of women mothers, seeking to develop questions about socially constructed gender inequalities and the way they manifest themselves in a period of crisis. The
methodology included the use of answers to a question form shared through social networks between the months of September/November 2020. The results of the objective questions were plotted in graphs, allowing the development of a quantitative study, while the answers to the descriptive question enabled a qualitative analysis of the subject. The results showed that during the period of the pandemic analyzed, there was a significant increase in the maternal
workload, impacting women mothers both physically and psychologically. They faced several challenges in reconciling domestic activities, child care, leisure, and work, and they were also primarily responsible for household activities and raising children.