Objective: to describe and analyze the culture and traditions related to pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care of the Kukama kukamiria women, living in the Peruvian Amazon, and their experiences and perceptions of care at home compared to that received at the health center. Methods: a qualitative study based on ethnography that seeks to analyze traditional knowledge and practices of self-care, taking into account descriptions of home births attended by traditional midwives, compared to that of birth care at the health institution. Results: home delivery prioritizes women's' comfort, through the use of teas, baths and specific rituals in caring for the placenta; dietary regulations and attention to environmental aspects such as temperature and lighting are built into care. At the health facilities, routine interventions include acceleration of labor with the use of drugs, vaginal cutting (episiotomy), immobilization in lithotomy position, and the disposal of the placenta as garbage; which is perceived as inadequate and aggressive. Conclusion: a preference for traditional care is justified based on feelings of neglect and vulnerability at institutionalized health centers, resulting from the lack of consideration by the health services for the cultural and well-being specificities of the Kukama Kukamiria women.

SÃO PAULO 2010"Quando nasce um bebê, nasce também uma mãe?" -maternidade e reprodução humana assistida em mulheres laqueadas SÃO PAULO 2010É expressamente proibida a comercialização deste documento, tanto na sua forma impressa como eletrônica. Sua reprodução total ou parcial é permitida exclusivamente para fins acadêmicos e científicos, desde que na reprodução figure a identificação do autor, título, instituição e ano da Tese. ABSTRACTIn this thesis I analyze the trajectories of sterilized women who wish to have a new experience of maternity by means of assisted human reproduction, identifying the agents and socializing institutions which contributed to the decision taken. The analysis focuses on the understanding of how the trajectory is constructed, from the repentance of the original sterilization through to the renewal of the desire for maternity. On the basis of the hypothesis that maternity and the blood relationship are still preponderant in the constitution of the family, the author has described and analyzed these trajectories and their implications in the act of the reconstruction of the family, seeing that the return to the renewed experience of maternity arises as a desire followed by action, some years after the establishment of the second marital relationship. During the discussions with the women involved, other relevant questions such as the greater value attributed to the discourse on the origin of individuals and, in consequence, of the biologization of the social dimension and of the "naturalization"of the roles involved, arose. The field of study consisted of women who were awaiting assisted human reproduction treatment at a hospital of the public health network of the State of São Paulo. We, the women concerned and the author, met on several occasions: sometimes all together, at others, individually, by means of these contacts building up a certain affection. Thus the material was composed of the transcriptions of the discussion group, of the interviews and of the notes made in the field diary. Assisted human reproduction is, nowadays, becoming widespread, determining the primacy of biology, of the science which can provide whoever seeks it with the possibility of having a baby the source of whose genetic material is safe, certain, genes of one's genes. And this biologization of the social dimension brings with it another subliminal question, because in undergoing assisted human reproduction treatment, the woman concerned perpetuates and guarantees the family ideal, the background of her own upbringing: only one mother, only one father, in brief: one only and undoubted origin. There is a discourse of the renewed value of pregnancy, a biological and biographical event par excellence. It is important that the women who participated in this study, and as many others scattered throughout this country, should be better informed (about contraceptive procedures, sterilization, risks, assisted human reproduction, its collateral effects and the possibilities of success, among other things) so that,...

Tubal sterilization is a method of female sterilization, consisting of the surgical severance of the fallopian tubes which connect the ovaries to the uterus. This method, the rates for which have doubled in Brazil since 2003, is considered safe and irreversible. This study is a qualitative research project which seeks to describe and analyze the thought process and assessment of sterilization by women who have subsequently sought the help of new reproductive technologies to enable them to conceive. Sixteen sterilized women were interviewed at a hospital within the public health system in São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. As a result, the following themes emerged from the study: women's lack of care regarding their reproductive life; sterilization and (constitution) habitus, and the remorse expressed in the phrase proffered by Rosa: "The surgical thread used in tubal sterilization is so heavy!" The study highlighted the need for women to be better informed about the surgical procedures available to them: whether about tubal ligation or about treatments in the field of new reproductive technology. Access to this information can promote greater understanding of the terms and greater confidence in dealing with the choices involved. Keywords: Tubal Sterilization; New Reproductive Technologies; Women's Health. Claudia Valença Fontenele

Trata-se de pesquisa qualitativa com o objetivo de verificar as opiniões, as emoções e os sentimentos de mulheres laqueadas acerca da expectativa pelo tratamento de reprodução humana assistida num ambulatório especializado. As entrevistas foram realizadas em um hospital da rede pública de saúde, na Região Sudeste do Brasil, São Paulo, com 16 mulheres esterilizadas. Como resultados, as seguintes temáticas foram as mais frequentes: ansiedade, assombro do tempo e "des-atenção" dos profissionais de saúde, que foram vivenciados nos momentos em que os sentimentos de solidão e abandono se mostraram mais agudos sob a perspectiva das mulheres. Do estudo emerge a necessidade de se pensar estratégias de atenção e cuidado junto a essa população específica no campo da saúde, visando melhorar seu conforto emocional por meio de um diálogo franco entre mulheres e profissionais de saúde.