2008, Number 1
<< Back Next >>
salud publica mex 2008; 50 (1)
Users’ and providers’ perspectives on technological procedures for ‘normal’childbirth in a public maternity hospital in Salvador, Brazil
McCallum C, Dos Reis AP
Language: English
References: 21
Page: 40-48
PDF size: 190.36 Kb.
ABSTRACT
Objective. To reveal the effect of cultural practices on the way in which normal birth is conducted in a public hospital in Brazil.
Material and Methods. This article about a public maternity hospital in Salvador, Brazil, compares the points of view of providers and users on four technological normal childbirth procedures: trichotomy, episiotomy, oxytocin infusion, and epidural analgesia. Fieldwork carried out from 2002 to 2003 combined qualitative and quantitative methods.
Results. Institutional practices make childbirth unnecessarily difficult for women. Nonetheless, most women accept the conditions because the medical procedures make sense according to their cultural understandings. Service providers support the use of such procedures, although doctors are aware that they contradict recommendations found in scientific medical literature. This article argues that from the perspective of both providers and users, the technological procedures are infused with a culturally specific set of meanings and values.
Conclusions. Policymakers must address the cultural understandings of both users and health care professionals in order to improve maternal healthcare in public hospitals in Brazil.
REFERENCES
IBGE. Síntese de indicadores sociais 2000. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 2001.
Sansone L. Negritude sem etnicidade. Salvador/Rio de Janeiro: EDUFBA/Pallas, 2004.
SESAB. Saúde reprodutiva no estado da bahia: adolescentes e jovens nos serviços de saúde reprodutiva. Rio de Janeiro: SESAB/SUS/BEMFAM et al, 2000.
McCallum C. Explaining caesarean section in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. Sociol Health Illn 2005; 27:215-242.
Reichmann R, ed. Race in contemporary Brazil. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999.
Telles E. Racismo à brasileira: uma nova perspectiva sociológica. Rio de Janeiro: Relume Dumará, 2003: 103-135.
IBGE teen. Accessed 23 August 2006. Available at: www.ibge.gov.br
IBGE. Censo demográfico 2000: nupcialidade e fecundidade – resultados da amostra. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 2000.
DATASUS. Accessed 23 August 2006. Website Available at: http://tabnet.datasus.gov.br/cgi/deftohtm.exe?sih/cnv/piba.htm
McCallum C, Dos Reis AP. Childbirth as ritual in Brazil: Young mothers experiences. Ethnos 2005;70:335-360.
Riesco MLG, Tsunechiro MA. Formação profissional de obstetrizes e enfermeiras obstétricas: velhos problemas ou novas possibilidades? Estudos Feministas 2002; 10:449-459.
Béhague DP. Beyond the simple economics of cesarean section birthing: women’s resistance to social inequality. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 2002; 26:473-507.
World Health Organization. Care in normal birth: a practical guide. WHO/FRH/MSM/96.24. [Accessed August 21, 2000]. Available at: http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/publications/MSM_96_24/care_in_normal_birth_practical_guide.pdf.
Hemminki, E. A trial on continuous human support during labor: feasibility, interventions and mother’s satisfaction. J Psychom Obstet Gynecol 1990; 11:239-250.
Martin E. The woman in the body: a cultural analysis of reproduction. Boston: Beacon Press, 1987.
Davis-Floyd RE. Birth as an American rite of passage. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.
Mott ML, org. Bibliografia comentada sobre a assistência ao parto no Brasil. Revista Estudos Feministas 2002; 10:493-507.
Tornquist CS. Armadilhas da nova era: natureza e maternidade no ideário da humanização do parto. Revista Estudos Feministas 2002; 10:483-492.
Brasil. Política nacional de atenção integral à saúde da mulher: princípios e diretrizes / Ministério da Saúde, Secretaria de Atenção à Saúde, Departamento de Ações Pragmáticas Estratégicas. Brasil: Ministério da Saúde 2004:80.
Diniz CSG. Entre a técnica e os direitos humanos: possibilidades e limites da humanização da assistência ao parto. Thesis Sao Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo, 2001.
Misago C, Kendall C, Freitas P, Haneda K, Silveira D, Onuki D, et al. From `culture of dehumanization of childbirth’ to `childbirth as a transformative experience’: changes in five municipalities in north-east Brazil. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2001:75 suppl 1:S67-S72.