PLANNED HOME BIRTH: REFLECTIONS ON THE CARE MODEL FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF NURSE-MIDWIVES

ABSTRACT Objective: To reflect on the planned home birth care model in Brazil. Method: Theoretical-reflective study on models of assistance during childbirth, focusing on planned home birth. Results: Childbirth care in Brazil has undergone significant changes, moving from being provided at home, with midwives and family members, to becoming predominantly medicalized and hospital-centered. In an attempt to improve this scenario and restore women’s leading role in childbirth, the feminist movement, together with obstetric nursing and other sectors of society, focused on questioning the technical and interventionist obstetric model at the end of the 20th century, influencing the development of policies and programs aimed at providing care to women during pregnancy and childbirth. The movement to humanize care proposes measures that ensure improvements in access to and quality of care during pregnancy and childbirth in the current obstetric care system, based on the perspective of comprehensive, networked care and women’s experience, combining midwives’ knowledge with technical and scientific knowledge, in order to revalue the physiological aspects of childbirth, in contrast to the phenomenon of pathologizing childbirth. Planned home birth is an opportunity to restore the care provided by midwives, promoting the exchange of knowledge with obstetric nurses, who are predominant in this model of care. Priority is given to respecting the physiology of childbirth, together with the safety and comfort provided by home settings. Conclusion: The female role in childbirth is highlighted as well as the relevance of obstetric nurses and the lack of official data on the situation of planned home birth in Brazil.