Manifestations of Violence during Childbirth as Perceived by Women and Health Professionals

Abstract

Introduction: The existence of certain manifestations of violence against women during childbirth is frequently not recognized either by the affected women or by the professionals involved, which makes the phenomenon natural and invisible.

Objective: To identify the manifestations of obstetric violence that occur in childbirth and the perception that women and health professionals have concerning the phenomenon.

Methods: Qualitative study carried out, from March 2017 to 2019, in a hospital in Artemisa Province, Cuba. Using the theoretical saturation criterion, the sample was made up of twelve women who had physiological delivery, ten obstetric nursing professionals, and ten obstetrician physicians, selected by nonprobabilistic sampling by criteria. The analysis of the information from the interviews and nonparticipant observation were carried out following the principles of grounded theory. Data were collected, analyzed and processed using the computer software ATLAS.ti 8 for Windows.

Results: The interviews showed the manifestations of violence against women, while observation showed the occurrence of interventionism that, together with the attitudes of professionals in the obstetric area and the regulations of the health system, influenced the perpetuation of the negative experience of childbirth in women.

Conclusions: The study revealed obstetric violence during childbirth, based on the relationships established between the identified categories, and investigated new positions to conceive childbirth as a gratifying event with the naturalness that characterizes it.