Giving birth in paradise: Humanized birth, oxytocin, and the bodily production of a new maternity

Abstract

Brazil is the world champion in number of cesarean sections, especially in the private health sector. This figure can reach more than 80% among middle and upper class pregnant women in some regions of the country. Opposing this situation, the “humanized birth” movement has been gaining ground. Its objectives are the denouncement of “obstetric violence” and the return to a “natural” form of parturition and childbirth care. In this article we aim to discuss the way in which the ideas of this movement imply the constitution of a new meaning for maternity based on a conception of bodily nature, and the role played by oxytocin in this process.