In rural areas of the Loreto region in the Peruvian Amazon, maternal and infant mortality rates are higher than the national average, due to numerous barriers to access to care, including limited health education adapted to the local context. Therefore, this project led by Neha Limaye focused on sharing life stories and lessons learned within the same communities, involving them in the process of designing and creating educational content. Toghether we developed a novel intervention designing digital stories, using participatory methods to achieve behavioral changes aimed at improving maternal and infant health: the "Our Stories" project.
Not having a trained personnel assisting at the time of delivery increases the risks of complications for both mother and baby. To better understand the barriers and find effective solutions, Photovoice and digital storytelling workshops were conducted with mothers and community health workers (CHWs). These workshops were held in 13 communities in the Parinari district, where participants learned to take photos that represented their experiences and challenges during pregnancy.
During the Photovoice workshops, 28 participants were trained in basic photography skills and ethics. They took photos that showed their experiences and challenges related to pregnancy. These images revealed issues such as lack of partner support, domestic violence, early pregnancies, difficulty attending prenatal check-ups, and complications during pregnancy and childbirth. From these photos, participants developed personal stories that reflected these themes.
Personal stories captured in photos and narratives became the core of a digital story archive that participants themselves called “Our Stories.” Of the more than 30 stories recorded, seven were selected for their clarity, thematic relevance, and narrative quality. A professional filmmaker helped edit these stories to create videos that combined the photos and the audio. Each story ended with an educational component based on the Peruvian government’s guide for community health workers.
To assess the effectiveness and acceptance of the digital stories, surveys were conducted with 60 women and 47 men from the Parinari communities. The results were very positive: over 90% of participants rated the stories as “Excellent” or “Good,” and found the videos useful and relevant to their own communities. The digital stories were not only novel and educational, but also deeply related to the participants’ daily experiences.
The participants’ photos and stories revealed complex realities: difficulties and illnesses during pregnancy, lack of support from partners, domestic violence, multiple teenage pregnancies, complications during childbirth, access to vaccines and prenatal care, and unequal distribution of labor during pregnancy. Each theme reflects the daily reality of women in rural areas of Loreto, who often face these challenges in silence.
The process of creating and sharing these stories not only provided valuable information, but also empowered participants. The digital stories allowed communities to openly discuss their problems and seek collective solutions. The participatory methodology helped ensure that interventions were culturally relevant and tailored to local needs.
“Our Stories” is an innovative educational strategy that addresses community-specific issues around maternal and child health through narrative persuasion using local voices and photographs. This set of stories has proven highly engaging and accepted, and they form the educational backbone of Mamás del Río.
Article based in: “Nuestras Historias- Designing a novel digital story intervention through participatory methods to improve maternal and child health in the Peruvian Amazon” by Neha P. Limaye , Andrea C. Rivas-Nieto, Cesar P. Carcamo & Magaly M. Blas
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