This study presents a reflection on the health resources and strategies used by poor Brazilian women and that coexist with "official" medical practices. For this qualitative research, the authors applied social representation categories as central categories of analysis, which were understood as part of contradictory social relations and of the collective history of the groups. The peculiar way by which popular segments reaffirm and, at the same time, deny their own knowledge/action as a counterpoint to the dominant medical practices is brought into focus, beginning from the utilization of a varied set of health resources and strategies that include measures such as household-medicine, medical and religious practices, self-medication, consultations with "pharmacists" and orientation by local health agents.
women´s health; public health; health resources