Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno

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Pachapasmo

Itsmina, Chocó, Colo...opy; Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. The traditional midwife Francisca Córdoba Camacho or "Pachapasmo", lives in the La Independencia neighborhood in the city of Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. She has been a traditional midwife for more than 35 years and learned the trade from her grandmother. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. Dilia (r) and her 2-day-old daughter share some time with Eulalia (l) who is visiting them. Dilia's daughter was welcomed into this world by "Pachapasmo". Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. Yuli Paulina, 18 years old and 6 months pregnant, receives a prenatal control with "Pachapasmo" in a house in the La Independencia neighborhood in the city of Itsmina, in the department of Choco, Colombia. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. "La Independencia" neighborhood where Pachapasmo lives in the city of Itsmina, department of Chocó, Colombia. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. The traditional midwife Francisca Córdoba Camacho or "Pachapasmo", prepares to attend the birth of Marcelina Murillo's fifth child at her home in the La Independencia neighborhood in the city of Itsmina, in the department of Chocó, Colombia. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. Marcelina Murillo is about to give birth and is having contractions at her home in the La Independencia neighborhood in the city of Itsmina, in the department of Chocó, Colombia, the traditional midwife "Pachapasmo" attending her birth. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. Marcelina Murillo gives birth to her fifth child at her home in the La Independencia neighborhood in the city of Itsmina, in the department of Chocó, Colombia, the traditional midwife "Pachapasmo" attends her birth. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colo...Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. Keiner David, 4 months old, was welcomed into this world by "Pachapasmo", he now rests at his home in the La Independencia neighborhood in the city of Itsmina, in the department of Chocó, Colombia. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. Yuli Paulina, 18 years old and 6 months pregnant, waits to receive a prenatal control with "Pachapasmo" at her home in the La Independencia neighborhood in the city of Itsmina, in the department of Chocó, Colombia. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. Joana Reyes, 21, with her 2-month-old daughter, Jazmín Yoarlim, waits to receive a prenatal control with "Pachapasmo" at her home in the La Independencia neighborhood in the city of Itsmina, in the department of Chocó, Colombia. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. Joana Reyes, 21, (not pictured) with her 2-month-old daughter, Jazmín Yoarlim, waits to receive a prenatal control with "Pachapasmo" at her home in the La Independencia neighborhood in the city of Itsmina, in the department of Chocó, Colombia. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. The month and a half daughter of Miriam Rodriguez (not in the photo) waits to be checked by "Pachapasmo" at her home in the La Independencia neighborhood of the city of Itsmina, in the department of Chocó, Colombia. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. "La Chola" is an indigenous woman adopted by Pachapasmo and lives with her in her house in Itsmina, Chocó. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. Multiple diplomas from courses, workshops and health training can be seen in the living room of the Pachapasmo house in Itsmina, Chocó. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

Itsmina, Chocó, Colombia. Pachapasmo at the end of one of the 7,000 births she has attended throughout her life. © Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno.

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Public Project

Pachapasmo

Copyright Juan Manuel Barrero Bueno 2024

Date of Work Apr 2008 - Jun 2009

Updated May 2020

Location itsmina

Topics Adolescence, Birth, Black and White, Children, Colombia, Community, conelcorazon, Documentary, Editorial, Emotion, Environment, Essays, Faith, Family, Fear, Feature, Feminism, Freedom, Happiness, Health/Healing, Hope, Human Rights, jmbb, jmbbnet, juanmanuelbarrero, juanmanuelbarrerobueno, Landscape, Latin America, Love, midwife, Minority, Motherhood, Parenting & Family, Photography, Photojournalism, Portraiture, Poverty, Pregnancy/Birth, Relationships, Sexuality, Still life, Teens, withtheheart, witness, Womens Rights, Youth

Francisca Córdoba Camacho or "Pachapasmo" is a traditional midwife of the Colombian Pacific.
She lives in Itsmina, two hours from the capital of Chocó, Quibdó.
She has been doing this work for more than 40 years, a job she learned from her grandmother who introduced her when "Pacha" was only 16 years old.
He has practically helped to birth all the inhabitants of Itsmina and its surroundings, being a person recognized by all the inhabitants of the area.
Midwifery in Colombia has been recovering importance, as ancestral knowledge of the Afro communities that for more than 300 years have inhabited these remote areas of the country.

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