Perceptions of nursing undergraduate students about humanized childbirth

Humanization in childbirth is a widely discussed subject because it runs through values and practices that evolve relationships among human beings. Humanized care must be centered in parturients needs, not only in procedures and technical standards. Thus, undergraduate nursing students perceptions are extremely relevant for this scenario, once the concept of humanized care should be understood during academic formation of these future professionals, aiming even more humanized care during prenatal and childbirth care, granting women’s rights and autonomy. The present study has as its goal to investigate the perceptions of nursing undergraduate students of an institution of higher education from Belém – PA about humanized care. It is a field research with qualitative approach and descriptive character. An interview with 15 senior nursing students was done, using a semi structured script. To analyze the collected data, Bardin’s methodological steps were applied. As results, from student’s depositions, three categories emerged: Perceptions on the politics of humanization; Perceptions about humanized childbirth; and Perceptions of Humanized Childbirth Assistance during the internship. It is possible to conclude that there is the need to reinforce humanization politics in childbirth, on a transversal way during undergraduate formation process, with methodologies and teaching-learning experiences that facilitate the association between theory and practice.