Experiências de parto e violações aos direitos humanos: um estudo sobre relatos de violência na assistência obstétrica

Abstract

Medical interventions used in women during childbirth have often been interpreted as violent or dehumanized, especially when obstetric care disregards the autonomy and the role of the mother as in control of labor. Thus, respect, dignity, and free will in childbirth are human rights that require an interdisciplinary debate. The Research Ethics Committee of Universidade Federal de Goiás has approved this descriptive study under Decree 738 671. This paper aimed at analyzing the reports of 33 participants who underwent childbirth experience from 2009 to 2014, assessing the occurrence of violation of rights, and promoting an interdisciplinary debate grounded on human rights. Moreover, we sought to discuss violence against women, their conformity at birth, and lack of dignity and human rights. We also sought to determine the study group’s concept of "decent labor", along with women’s expectations on childbirth and their actual experiences. Foucault's view of power and discourse in the theoretical line of Fairclough has contributed to the qualitative analysis of the reports. According to this study, 45% of the participants were involved in unreasonable situations during childbirth, or in situations that caused a sense of outrage, for lack of dignity and human rights. Results show that, when experiencing violence in childbirth, participants have had temporary or permanent after-effects. Interviewed women strongly relate humanization with feeling embraced, informed, safe and close to the medical team. When asked to give meaning to "decent labor", the group of interviewees brought forth terms such as 'warm treatment', 'respect', 'information', 'safety', 'autonomy', 'guaranteed rights' and 'the presence of a partner.'