Parto domiciliar autoassistido como tecnologia de gênero: análise qualitativa das ações de uma rede de apoio no litoral do Paraná

Abstract

A rare birthing option was studied in this thesis: the self-assisted home birth. This occurs when a woman plans to give birth at home, fully aware that she will not have access to professional assistance. In the cases considered for this study, the participants did not have access to home assistance services due to territorial and economic reasons. They relied on a support network formed by members of a university community. The births analized on this work took place between 2012 and 2019 in Matinhos and Morretes (PR). The twelve participants in the study were, at the time, undergraduate students or recent graduates from the Federal University of Paraná. Ten participants planned self-assisted home births, and eight successfully gave birth at home. The aim of this study was to identify and analyze the actions of these women from an interdisciplinary perspective within the field of Technology and Society, using a qualitative approach. The narratives were collected through semi-structured interviews, and their content was subjected to categorical thematic analysis. The following categories emerged from the analysis: territory and support network; self-assisted birth, gender relations, and feminisms; perceptions of risk, the biomedical system, and obstetric violence; and sexual and reproductive rights. The theoretical discussion is supported by gender studies and feminist studies of science and technology. By choosing home birth, the participants sought the opportunity to experience a satisfactory birth and avoid unnecessary c-sections and obstetric violence. They experienced birth in hybrid ways, aiming for minimal intervention but without rejecting scientific knowledge and traditional and biomedical resources (prenatal care, asepsis of the birth location, tests, and medical consultations in the postpartum period). Their practices challenged binary categories and can be linked to alternative interpretations of what is socially understood as nature (as opposed to culture). Therefore, it is possible to assert that the self-assisted birth studied in this thesis is a feminist, community-oriented, and non-capitalist practice. Beyond the assumed risk, home birth provided positive experiences and the possibility of experiencing it among relatives and/or friends, with women having control over their bodies and expressions.