Abstract:

Abstract This study aims at analyzing the assistance offered to women during childbirth, according to the principles prescribed by the Prenatal and Birth Humanization Program. This is an observational, exploratory, descriptive, quantitative study, developed in a university hospital in the city of Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil, from January to March 2012. Most participants were women from 21 to 25 y/o (30.9%), white (57%), with 8 to 11 years of formal education (51.6%), married or living with a partner (58%), housekeepers (56.5%), who had their partner present (82.1%). Among the 207 women, 42.5% were primigravidae, 48.3% were nulliparous, and 84.5% had no previous abortions. Regarding their gestational age, 36.6% were pregnant for 40 weeks or longer. Among them, 67.1% underwent cesarean sections and most did not undergo partographs. The pregnant women receivd unnecessary medication and the rates of cesarean sections were inadequate, rendering the assistance incompatible with the principles prescribed by the Prenatal and Birth Humanization Program.

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