Violência obstétrica : revisando a literatura para conhecer e prevenir

Abstract

The term “obstetric violence” (VO) is used to describe various forms of violence practiced by health professionals against women in pregnancy, labor, postpartum and abortion care. This violence can be physical, verbal, psychological, symbolic and / or sexual. Given this, the present study aimed to describe, from the literature review, the characteristics of the VO suffered by women in the process of parturition, the main types of VO practiced by health professionals as well as the reflection of the aggressions to physical and mental health. woman's psychological This work also aimed to raise reflections aimed at reducing the practice of VO. The methodology used was a narrative review of the literature. The search took place in the following databases: Health Sciences (LILACS), Google Scholar, and the Virtual Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), with the application of the Health Science Descriptors: “Women's Health”, “Obstetrics”, “Violence”, “Labor”, “Childbirth” and “Humanization of childbirth”. The criteria for choosing the study were the approaches around VO and its context, epidemiological data, definitions, public policies and booklets prepared by the Ministry of Health and data from the World Health Organization. The result of this research showed that VO It consists of disrespect for women's rights throughout pregnancy, labor, childbirth and the postpartum period, including the loss of autonomy and decision over their bodies. It was also possible to reinforce the importance of maintaining the use of the term VO as well as the need to establish a clear definition of the term by the Health Bodies, with the aim of eradicating these practices in the health care of women in the parturition process. Finally, we highlight that nursing is fundamental in the process of transformation of care to pregnant women, since this professional category is the most inherent of the health team, with potential for awareness, promotion and implementation of good practices. And a first step for this transformation are changes in the curriculum of training of nursing professionals, especially the Obstetric category, as well as updating of professionals who are already working to differentiate traditionalist medical education.