Obstetric violence: violation of women's protagonism and rights in the birth experience

• Grant number: 17/09059-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2017
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Law - Public Law
• Principal Investigator: Edvânia Ângela de Souza
• Grantee: Isabela Risso Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Women are victims of several kinds of violence, one of them occur in the health scope: the obstetric violence, which are acts practiced by health professional during the prenatal, the birth and the post-birth, of dehumanized treatment, physical or verbal nature, as offenses directed to the woman about her color or social class, over-medicalization, procedures without her consent, etc. Social comprehension about birth underwent several transformations, going from an event considered as a penalty to the woman as a result of the original sin, to a form of violence inherent to her nature, and the woman should be rescued from this sorrow. Medicine emerges then as woman's savior, assigning to female's body the condition of failure, unable to give birth. Therefore, to the woman is left the secondary role, of mere patient, while the doctor takes on the protagonism. The elective caesarean emerges, then, as a way to avoid that women undergo this traumatic event, although several studies prove that it causes more damage than benefits. As a counterpoint to this scenario, arises the movement for birth's humanization, which proposes a new model of medical assistance, grounded on Evidence-based Medicine and Women's Rights. This study aims analyze the occurrence of obstetric violence in Brazil, from reports of mothers attended at UBS-Leporace, in the city of Franca/SP, and women who are part of the group Parto com Respeito e Maternidade Ativa em Franca/SP, through semistructured interviews, in addition to bibliographical study. (AU)