The meaning assigned by couples to planned home birth supported by nurse midwives of the Hanami team

Abstract

Objective: to understand the meaning assigned by couples to the experience of planned home birth supported by the nurse midwives of the Hanami team. Method: qualitative study in the form of convergent care research developed with 30 couples in the southern region of Brazil within the period between October 2011 and November 2012. Data were collected through interview and participant observation. Analysis included four stages: apprehension, synthesis, theorization, and transfer. Results: one core category was identified: Culturally respectful and sensitive delivery, pointing to a parturitive scenario expected by the couple, fueled by the belief that the professionals selected for this moment are able to understand the worldview, beliefs, values, rituals of care, and the meanings assigned to them; and three subcategories: The realization of an ideal, Birth with the family and The option for their home instead of a hospital. Conclusion: the environmental context of a home implies the totality of a singular experience that respects the physical, holistic-ecological, emotional, and cultural dimensions of a couple, bringing up the home as the place of choice for the delivery. The positive experience of the couples makes up the meaning that the planned home birth is an ideal consistent with the lifestyle, beliefs, values, and culture, consisting in a reproductive and sexual right. Home birth is a new chance to interact with the world and people that are part of the support network to couples in the birth process.