PERINATAL CARE PRACTICES IN NORMAL RISK MATERNITY HOSPITALS: AN EVALUATION IN THE WOMEN’S PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate perinatal care practices in normal risk maternity hospitals, in the women’s perspective. It is evaluative, transversal research with a quantitative approach, undertaken in three public maternity hospitals in a state capital in the South of Brazil. The probabilistic sample was made up of 95 women who experienced normal birth without complications, and who were inpatients on the Maternity Ward. Data were collected between May and July 2014, through a structured interview and were subjected to descriptive analysis and frequency analysis. Evidence was found of incorporation of practices recommended by the World Health Organization in the maternity hospitals’ routines; other practices, however, need to be improved. The results provide information which is useful for managers, with a view to ensuring the women’s reproductive rights.

Keywords

• Perinatal care
• Public health policy
• Reproductive rights
• Health Evaluation
• Patient Outcome Assessment