Social inequalities and women's satisfaction with childbirth care in Brazil: a national hospital-based surveyDesigualdades sociais e satisfação das mulheres com o atendimento ao parto no Brasil: estudo nacional de base hospitalar Diferencias sociales y satisfacción de las mujeres con la atención al parto en Brasil: estudio nacional de base hospitalaria

Background: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the support given to women by a companion of their choice during labor and delivery.

OBJECTIVETo analyze if the presence of a companion favors the use of best practices in the delivery care in the South region of Brazil.METHODSThis is a cross-sectional analysis of the longitudinal study Nascer no Brasil. We analyzed data from 2,070 women from the South region of Brazil who went into labor. The data were collected between February and August 2011, by interviews and medical records. We performed a bivariate and multivariate analysis, calculating the crude and adjusted prevalence ratios using Poisson regression with robust variance estimation. The level of significance adopted was 5%.RESULTSMost women had a companion during labor (51.7%), but few remained during delivery (39.4%) or cesarean section (34.8%). Less than half of the women had access to several recommended practices, while non-recommended practices continue to be performed. In the model adjusted for age, education level, source of payment for the delivery, parity, and score of the Brazilian Association of Market Research Institutes, the presence of a companion was statistically associated with a greater supply of liquids and food (aPR = 1.34), dietary prescription (aPR = 1.34), use of non-pharmacological methods for pain relief (aPR = 1.37), amniotomy (aPR = 1.10), epidural or spinal analgesia (aPR = 1.84), adoption of non-lithotomy position in the delivery (aPR = 1.77), stay in the same room during labor, delivery, and postpartum (aPR = 1.62), skin-to-skin contact in the delivery (aPR = 1.81) and cesarean section (PR = 2.43), as well as reduced use of the Kristeller maneuver (aPR = 0.67), trichotomy (aPR = 0.59), and enema (aPR = 0.49).CONCLUSIONSIn the South region of Brazil, most women do not have access to the best practices in addition to undergoing several unnecessary interventions. The presence of a companion is associated with several beneficial practices and the reduction in some interventions, although other interventions are not impacted.

BackgroundThe participation of nurses and midwives in vaginal birth care is limited in Brazil, and there are no national data regarding their involvement. The goal was to describe the participation of nurses and nurse-midwives in childbirth care in Brazil in the years 2011 and 2012, and to analyze the association between hospitals with nurses and nurse-midwives in labor and birth care and the use of good practices, and their influence in the reduction of unnecessary interventions, including cesarean sections.MethodsBirth in Brazil is a national, population-based study consisting of 23,894 postpartum women, carried out in the period between February 2011 and October 2012, in 266 healthcare settings. The study included all vaginal births involving physicians or nurses/nurse-midwives. A logistic regression model was used to examine the association between the implementation of good practices and suitable interventions during labor and birth, and whether care was a physician or a nurse/nurse-midwife led care. We developed another model to assess the association between the use of obstetric interventions during labor and birth to the personnel responsible for the care of the patient, comparing hospitals with decisions revolving exclusively around a physician to those that also included nurses/nurse-midwives as responsible for vaginal births.Results16.2 % of vaginal births were assisted by a nurse/nurse-midwife. Good practices were significantly more frequent in those births assisted by nurses/nurse-midwives (ad lib. diet, mobility during labor, non-pharmacological means of pain relief, and use of a partograph), while some interventions were less frequently used (anesthesia, lithotomy position, uterine fundal pressure and episiotomy). In maternity wards that included a nurse/nurse-midwife in labour and birth care, the incidence of cesarean section was lower.ConclusionsThe results of this study illustrate the potential benefit of collaborative work between physicians and nurses/nurse-midwives in labor and birth care. The adoption of good practices in managing labor and birth could be the first step toward more effective obstetric and midwifery care in Brazil. It may be easier to introduce new approaches rather than to eliminate old ones, which may explain why the reduction of unnecessary interventions during labor and birth was less pronounced than the adoption of new practices.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12978-016-0236-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.