Exploring pregnancy maps to understand toxic reproductive risks. Embodied experiences of toxic contamination in goldmining and coca farming communities in the Bajo Cauca region (Colombia)

In this paper, I discuss the potential of pregnancy maps, a body cartography technique emerging from the critical Latin American praxis of cuerpo-territorio, with a focus on the investigation of embodied experiences of reproduction to re-centre women’s reproductive priorities and concerns in environmental policymaking. The paper contributes to the debate on Environmental Reproductive Health by questioning reductionist understandings of body-environment relations and reconceptualising toxic reproductive disruptions by looking at the everyday life experiences of women inhabiting contaminated territories. I draw on 14 pregnancy mapping workshops conducted among goldmining and coca farming communities in the Bajo Cauca region (Colombia) that are in close everyday contact with mercury and glyphosate to argue that engagement with women’s understanding and experiences of reproductive risks is essential to design more gender-just environmental policies.