Perception of nurse midwives on obstetric violence

Abstract

Objective: to get to know the perception of nurse midwives on obstetric violence. Method: this is an exploratory study with a qualitative approach performed with 19 nurses working at the obstetric, labor, delivery and postpartum center of a maternal-newborn reference hospital in the city of Belém, state of Pará, Brazil. Data were collected through a semistructured interview in the months of April and May 2016, and submitted to the thematic content analysis technique. Results: nurse midwives notice that obstetric violence occurs in different ways; however, they do not recognize certain practices as a violation. In addition, they admit that lack of knowledge by the parturient is an element that makes them more vulnerable toward obstetric violence, showing the repercussions of the phenomenon to women’s life. Final Considerations: the study revealed nurses’ perceptions, showing the need for strategies to prevent obstetric violence.