The humanization of birth experience at the University of Santa Catarina Maternity Hospital

The Federal University of Santa Catarina (FUSC) Maternity Hospital (UH) initiated its activities on October 24, 1995, after several years of interdisciplinary committee work. The Committee based its work on the principles of humanization and interdisciplinarity. In this report we describe the process by which these services were implemented in this hospital, emphasizing the difficulties and possibilities of such an interdisciplinary project, the philosophical principles which guided the process, the work being carried out and the opinion of the clients on the care that they received. The work carried out at the UH generated a number of changes in the care and teaching of obstetrics at different professional levels. The maintenance of the basic principals of this work has, however, proved to be a continuous challenge with a constant struggle to ensure that the philosophy is adhered to by professionals and students, which strongly depends upon a continual educational process. (C) 2001 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. All rights reserved.