IPOV presents a series of reflective videos on early-stage researchers’ secondment experiences
PRODUCTION OF REFLECTIVE VIDEOS BY EARLY-STAGE RESEARCHERS DURING SECONDMENTS
Within IPOV – RESPECTFUL CARE, we are pleased to present a series of four short reflective videos produced by Early-Stage Researchers during their secondments in different institutions of the consortium. This initiative forms part of Work Package 2 – Documents and Data, led by the University of Udine, and aims to document the project’s training activities while opening a space for personal and professional reflection on the knowledge, skills and experiences gained in international, interdisciplinary and intercultural contexts.
The videos feature the experiences of Ilaria Mariani, Virginia Carcione, Lucile Faivre Pierret and Alba Crespo, who carried out research and training stays in different countries and partner institutions. Through their testimonies, the researchers reflect on how these mobilities have broadened their perspectives on respectful maternity and childbirth care, research on obstetric violence, and the importance of dialogue between disciplines, healthcare systems and sociocultural contexts.
A tool for reflection, training and communication
The production of these videos responds to two main objectives. First, to promote self-reflection among the participating researchers, encouraging them to critically consider the competences acquired, the knowledge developed and the impact of the experience on their professional trajectories. Second, to communicate and disseminate the training activities carried out within IPOV, highlighting the value of secondments as spaces for knowledge exchange, capacity building and the development of innovative approaches to respectful maternity care.
Each video, approximately three minutes long, follows a common guiding script while allowing each researcher to structure her own narrative according to her experience, research interests and personal learning journey. This approach reflects one of IPOV’s central principles: understanding research as a continuous, situated and participatory learning process, in which researchers also reflect on their own role, assumptions and the intercultural contexts in which they work.
Four experiences, one shared perspective
Ilaria Mariani, from Burlo Garofolo – WHO Collaborating Centre for Maternal and Childbirth Health in Italy, carried out her secondment at Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona. In her video, she highlights the value of working with professionals from many countries and disciplines, including midwives, doctors, researchers, sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers and public health experts. This experience allowed her to approach respectful maternity care and obstetric violence through new methodological, clinical and academic perspectives. She also emphasises the transferable skills she developed, such as professional communication in another language, teamwork in multicultural settings and the ability to find common ground across different backgrounds.
Virginia Carcione, from the University of Udine, shares her experience at the Hospital Materno Infantil de San Isidro in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During her stay, she took part in activities related to antenatal classes, pregnancy monitoring, labour and birth care, breastfeeding support and exchanges with healthcare professionals. From an anthropological perspective, her testimony highlights the importance of listening, dialogue and cultural awareness in healthcare practice. The experience helped her gain a deeper understanding of the social and cultural diversity of women accessing public maternal healthcare, as well as the institutional efforts aimed at preventing obstetric violence and strengthening respectful care.
Lucile Faivre Pierret, from the Institut National d’Études Démographiques in France, carried out her secondments at the Asociación Civil Argentina de Puericultura and the Universidad de la República in Uruguay. Her video focuses on fieldwork, qualitative interviews and dialogue with professionals and stakeholders involved in maternity care. Through this experience, she developed a deeper understanding of obstetric violence as a complex, multidimensional and situated phenomenon, whose manifestations vary according to healthcare systems, institutional contexts and social and historical realities. The secondment also opened up new opportunities for academic collaboration and contributed to the creation of professional networks that will continue beyond the duration of the project.
Alba Crespo, from the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, carried out her secondment at the University of South-Eastern Norway. In her testimony, she describes this stay as an opportunity for learning, exchange and collaboration with Norwegian researchers and midwifery students. During this period, she deepened her knowledge of qualitative research methods in healthcare, shared experiences from the Catalan context and learned more about the Norwegian maternity care system. Her video shows how international cooperation can bring together different research traditions, professional experiences and ways of understanding respectful maternity care.
Secondments as spaces for shared knowledge
The videos show that international mobility is not only a training activity, but also a way of producing situated and relational knowledge. The experiences shared by the researchers help us understand how maternity care, the prevention of obstetric violence and the promotion of respectful practices are shaped by institutional, cultural, historical and political factors.
In this sense, IPOV secondments contribute to strengthening scientific, methodological and professional competences, while also supporting skills that are essential for collaborative research: active listening, intercultural communication, teamwork, interdisciplinary dialogue and the ability to analyse healthcare systems from a critical, feminist and human rights-based perspective.
A contribution to dissemination and continuous learning
The videos will be made available on the official IPOV website and disseminated through the project’s communication channels, including social media, newsletters and training, research and teaching activities. Beyond their role as communication materials, they will also be integrated into seminars, workshops, research meetings and educational spaces aimed at students, healthcare professionals, researchers, civil society organisations and other stakeholders interested in respectful maternity and childbirth care.
With this audiovisual series, IPOV reaffirms its commitment to open, collaborative research oriented towards social transformation. The voices of these researchers show how international exchange can expand our understanding of complex issues, strengthen cooperation networks and contribute to building maternity care practices grounded in dignity, autonomy, safety and women’s rights.