To learn more about women's experiences with birth in Brazil, click on the article title to read or the links for other web sites. (You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the articles. You can download Adobe free of charge from http://www.adobe.com.)

Articles

"Do Brazilian women really want to deliver by cesarean section?" by Kristine Hopkins, published in Social Science & Medicine in 2000.

Using data collected from a postpartum survey, participant observation in hospital obstetrics wards, and in-depth interviews, Kristine shows that the majority of women surveyed in two cities in Brazil, particularly first-time mothers, did not want to deliver by cesarean. Through an analysis of conversations between doctors and women during labor and delivery, and through women's narratives of their delivery experiences, she also shows some of the ways doctors induce so-called demand for cesarean section.

"Unwanted cesarean section among public and private patients in Brazil: Prospective study" by Joseph E. Potter, Elza Berquó, Ignez H.O. Perpétuo, Ondina Fachel Leal, Kristine Hopkins, Marta Rovery Souza, Maria Célia de Carvalho Formiga, published in the British Medical Journal in 2001.

Using data from a prospective survey this team of American and Brazilian researchers interviewed women twice during pregnancy and again postpartum. They found no difference in delivery preferences between women in public and private hospitals. The vast majority of women prefer to have a vaginal birth. Even though women in both sectors want to deliver vaginally, the great majority of women who deliver in private hospitals have a cesarean section. For example, even though 85% of the private sector women pregnant with their first child wanted to have a vaginal delivery, only 32 percent of them managed to deliver vaginally. Among women delivering for the first time in the public sector, 90 percent wanted to deliver vaginally, and 70 percent managed to do so.

Links

Amigas do Parto
http://www.amigasdoparto.com.br/
Amigas do Parto promotes the benefits of vaginal delivery in Brazil. Includes interviews, birth testimonies, articles and more links. In Portuguese & English.

International Cesarean Section Awareness Network (ICAN)
http://www.ican-online.org/
Nonprofit organization founded in 1982 "that works to lower the rate of unnecessary cesareans, supports vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), and encourages positive birthing through education and advocacy."