A look at the experience of childbirth: Trajectory, possibilities and repercussions

Abstract

This article, product of a literature review aimed to describe childbirth as a possibility of increased awareness of the parturient, highlighting the role of the Gestalt therapist in prenatal care. Therefore, it took as its starting point the trajectory of assistance to child-birth and current programs in the Brazilian context. Studies have demonstrated that in the last twenty years, the birth has been its primacy, institutionalized and masculinized, which is justified by the centralization of medical power over female phenomena and results in the loss of the role of women in childbirth experience. The findings demonstrate that humanization is of extreme importance to face this reality, because it allows the subject transcend from heteronomy to autonomy. Thus it was possible to perceive that the Gestalt therapist psychologist plays a key role in this process because, through the care provided in prenatal care, can promote health through awareness and empowerment of the pregnants.