O parto desejado

: expectativas de um grupo de grávidas

Abstract

Birth represents a landmark event in the transition to motherhood with an impact on the emotional bond between mother and newborn. The expectations raised during pregnancy around the delivery can be a positive or negative influence on the quality and satisfaction with the experience of birth. The knowledge of these expectations will guide the professional’s interventions during labor aiming a more positive experience. The present study was realized with the aim to know what expectations had pregnant women about their childbirth and realize what their concept of natural childbirth was. It is a qualitative descriptive study. The sample is consisted on nine pregnant women who were in the second and third trimester of pregnancy and were monitoring their pregnancy in the Health Center of Paços de Ferreira. Semi-structured Interviews were conducted after completing a demographic form. The collected speeches were analyzed using the program NVivo 8 and it was used the Grounded Theory methodology using the open categorization. From the analysis emerged a major category - the expectations of childbirth – and the subcategories: expectations regarding the place of delivery, the type of delivery, the control of pain in labor, the role of caregiver and the role of professionals. The analysis show that the expectations for delivery are that "everything goes well”, and the desire of a quick and painless childbirth, or at least with a manageable pain, and that the child will be healthy and without any problems. The presence of the supporting person is considered important. The role of the professionals expected is of a competent service, where the attention and appreciation of the needs of pregnant women, an individualized guidance and the provision of information on the progress of labor are considered essential. Women also valued the opportunity to be involved in the decisions made during the labor and expect to have a good outcome and experience of birth. However the conclusions results that women delegate in the professionals the decisions to be made during delivery considering them the ones in the knowledge to do it

Date of Award	Nov 2010
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Margarida Maria Vieira (Supervisor) & Alexandrina Maria Ramos Cardoso (Co-Supervisor)