title: [Care in a birth center according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization].
abstract: Birth centers are maternal care models that use appropriate technology when providing care to birthing women. This descriptive study aimed to characterize intrapartum care in a freestanding birth center, in light of the practices recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), with 1,079 assisted births from 2006 to 2009 in the Sapopemba Birth Center, São Paulo, Brazil. Results included the use of intermittent auscultation (mean=7 controls); maternal positions during delivery: semi-sitting (82.3%), side-lying (16.0%), other positions (1.7%), oral intake (95.6%); companionship (93.3%); exposure to up to three vaginal examinations (85.4%), shower bathing (84.0%), walking (68.0%), massage (60.1%), exercising with a Swiss ball (51.7%); amniotomy (53.4%), oxytocin use during the first (31.0%) and second stages of labor (25.8%), bath immersion (29.3%) and episiotomy (14.1%). In this birth center, care providers used practices recommended by the WHO, although some practices might have been applied less frequently.
authors.affiliation: School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flora Maria
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Barbosa da Silva
authors.affiliation: University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Taís Couto
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Rego da Paixão
authors.affiliation: Maternal-Child and Psychiatric Nursing Department, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sonia Maria Junqueira Vasconcellos
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.affiliation: University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jaqueline Sousa
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.affiliation: Maternal-Child and Psychiatric Nursing Department, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Luiza Gonzalez
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Riesco
authors.affiliation: School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ruth Hitomi
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Osava
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016550:Birthing Centers / Q000592:standards*; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014944:World Health Organization; D055815:Young Adult