[Barriers to implementing childbirth recommendations in Brazil: the women's perspectiveObstáculos para la aplicación de las recomendaciones de asistencia al parto normal en Brasil: perspectiva de las mujeres]

Incorporation, adaptation and rejection of obstetric practices during the implementation of the "Adequate Childbirth Program" in Brazilian private hospitals: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

The "Adequate Childbirth Program" (PPA) is a quality improvement project that aims to reduce the high rates of unnecessary cesarean section in Brazilian private hospitals. This study aimed to analyze labor and childbirth care practices after the first phase of PPA implementation.

METHOD

This study uses a qualitative approach. Eight hospitals were selected. At each hospital, during the period of 5 (five) days, from July to October 2017, the research team conducted face to face interviews with doctors (n = 21) and nurses (n = 28), using semi-structured scripts. For the selection of professionals, the Snowball technique was used. The interviews were transcribed, and the data submitted to Thematic Content Analysis, using the MaxQda software.

RESULTS

The three analytical dimensions of the process of change in the care model: (1) Incorporation of care practices: understood as the practices that have been included since PPA implementation; (2) Adaptation of care practices: understood as practices carried out prior to PPA implementation, but which underwent modifications with the implementation of the project; (3) Rejection of care practices: understood as those practices that were abandoned or questioned whether or not they should be carried out by hospital professionals.

CONCLUSIONS

After the PPA, changes were made in hospitals and in the way, women were treated. Birth planning, prenatal hospital visits led by experts (for expecting mothers and their families), diet during labor, pharmacological analgesia for vaginal delivery, skin-to-skin contact, and breastfeeding in the first hour of life are all included. To better monitor labor and vaginal birth and to reduce CS without a clinical justification, hospitals adjusted their present practices. Finally, the professionals rejected the Kristeller maneuver since research has demonstrated that using it's harmful.

Women's voice on changes in childbirth care practices: a qualitative approach to women's experiences in Brazilian private hospitals participating in the Adequate Childbirth Project

BACKGROUND

In Brazil, childbirth practices are strongly marked by surgical events and particularly in the private sector cesarean sections reach rates above 80%. The National Supplementary Health Agency proposed the Adequate Childbirth Project (PPA), a quality improvement project developed at Brazilian hospitals with the aim of changing the current model of childbirth care and reducing unnecessary cesarean sections. The objective of this study is to assess how the participation of women in the process of improving quality childbirth care occurred in two hospitals participating in the PPA.

METHOD

Qualitative study, based on interviews with 102 women attended at two hospitals that took part in the first and second stages of the "Healthy Birth", an evaluative hospital-based research, conducted in 2017-2018, that assessed the degree of implementation and the effects of PPA. After thematic content analysis, supported by MaxQda software, three categories emerged: (1) how women gathered knowledge about the PPA, (2) how women perceived it, and (3) which are their suggestions for the PPA improvement.

RESULTS

The PPA was unknown to most women before delivery. A polysemy of terms, including adequate childbirth, promotes recognition of the "new" model of care. Visits to the maternity hospital and antenatal care groups for pregnant women are opportunities for contacts that change the perception of what childbirth can be. Women have expectations of a relationship with maternity that is not limited to the moment of delivery. The listening channels established between hospitals and women are fragile and not systematized. By increasing the supply of listening spaces, one can also increase the request to leave their suggestions and contributions, and thus gain more allies in improving the project. Women are not yet included as PPA agents and their voices are silenced.

CONCLUSIONS

Women's participation to improve childbirth care is relevant and necessary. The women's voice in the PPA is still incipient, and maternity hospitals and health plan operators should create strategies to insert and engage them. Women's voices should be listened to not only during but also before and after childbirth.

The teaching of good obstetric practices from the Residency preceptors’ perspective

Abstract The aim of this study was to understand how the topic of good obstetric practices is taught in residency programs according to the preceptors’ perception. This is a descriptive, exploratory study, with data triangulation, with a qualitative approach. A total of 35 professionals participated in the study, of which 21 were physicians and 14 nurses. Data were collected from March to June 2018. The analysis was supported by NVivo software. The nuclei of meanings and categories were identified in the different stages, in pedagogical projects: the structuring aspects, competence profile and guiding policies for normal childbirth; in the interviews: theoretical-practical approach and the practices present in the training and, in participant observation: aspects related to the structure of the scenarios and the use of practices. Possibilities and limits were observed in the role of preceptors in the training process, constituting an area that requires continuous attention, aimed at the strengthening of the pedagogical processes in order to expand the disruptive potential of new health professionals.

The teaching of good obstetric practices from the Residency preceptors' perspective

The aim of this study was to understand how the topic of good obstetric practices is taught in residency programs according to the preceptors' perception. This is a descriptive, exploratory study, with data triangulation, with a qualitative approach. A total of 35 professionals participated in the study, of which 21 were physicians and 14 nurses. Data were collected from March to June 2018. The analysis was supported by NVivo software. The nuclei of meanings and categories were identified in the different stages, in pedagogical projects: the structuring aspects, competence profile and guiding policies for normal childbirth; in the interviews: theoretical-practical approach and the practices present in the training and, in participant observation: aspects related to the structure of the scenarios and the use of practices. Possibilities and limits were observed in the role of preceptors in the training process, constituting an area that requires continuous attention, aimed at the strengthening of the pedagogical processes in order to expand the disruptive potential of new health professionals.