Paper short abstract:

My presentation examines the relationships between migration, anxiety and reproductive health practices in contemporary rural France, taking as a case study the women of Moroccan origin in Médoc, Aquitaine.

Paper long abstract:

In this presentation I will examine the relationship between anxiety and reproductive health in the context of Moroccan migration in contemporary rural France. The paper is based on my postdoctoral research in progress in South-West of France (Médoc region) that investigates reproductive health and inequalities of populations en marge—marginalized populations consisting of mainly of immigrants, and low income groups (team project 2010-2013, financed by IReSP, Institut de Recherche en Santé Publique).

Taking as a case-study the migrant women of Moroccan origin from Médoc, Aquitaine, my research shows that the reproductive health practices are daily negotiated between the 'external anxiety' to access the French health-care system, poorly implanted in the territory, and the 'internal anxiety' of living one's womanhood inside or outside an established couple/family. While the second one is directly related to the cultural heritage regarding 'the woman's place' between here and there, Médoc ('la France') and 'au bled' (Morocco), the first one is due to the particular interactions with the French health professionals. How those two types of anxiety are constructed and deconstructed every day? Do they interfere, and what are the results of this interference? How this anxiety is influencing women's reproductive health practices in the context of migration, and the daily approaches of the health professionals? And, last but not least, what are the strategies developed to cope with this anxiety, and to what extent are they effective?