Perception of be Cared in Childbirth at the Light of the WHO Model

Abstract

Background: The World Health Organization recommends preserving the physiology of childbirth. For a normal birth, the guidelines define obstetric practices in four categories, ranging from useful and to be encouraged to harmful and to be eliminated. Objective: to describe new mothers’ perception of care during childbirth in the light of the World Health Organization model. Methods: Cross-sectional study. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Convenience sample of 180 mothers. The average age was 30.8 years-old (SD=5.31). Results: On their own initiative, before leaving for the maternity, women carried out at home, some care not recommended by World Health Organization, like pubic shaving (83.7%). Category A represents above all the lack of a birth plan (80.6%), mobility (71.3%), massage /54.2%) and light feeding (72.6%). Positively represented are skin-to-skin contact (77%) and breast-feeding (75.6%). Category B highlights intravenous fluids access (81.6%), lithotomy position for delivery (82.9%) and directed pushing (86.9%). Pubic shaving is recognized by about 22% of participants. The Kristeller maneuver or fundal pressure, is widely applied in Category D (59.9%), highlighting continuous cardiotocography (89.2%), repeated vaginal examination carried out by various professionals (78.5%) and episiotomy (69.2%). Conclusion: The World Health Organization model is weakly implemented. The medicalized culture of childbirth seems to predominate in phenomena of human nature.