Health policies, trust and affect in birth narratives

Abstract

The Prenatal and Birth Humanization Program was instituted by the Brazilian Health Ministry in 2000, aiming at ensuring respectful attention to women and babies and diminishing the use of unnecessary medical interventions. However, among women who had private health plans in Rio de Janeiro and who were interviewed in 2016, there were few mentions to this program’s guidelines. They attempted to find obstetrician who perform normal births and respect women´s wishes, but they understood the development of birth as confirming or not a personalized trust relationship between doctor and patient, rather than resulting from rights that should be observed. Thus, I analyze how this understanding is revealed through the emotion categories used in the birth narratives.