The objective of this exploratory-documental descriptive study is to identify a knowledge production in the area of women's and newborns' health from undergraduate students from the School of Nursing at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The documents studied were undergraduate senior theses referring to the period of March, 1982, to December, 2007. The data was collected via form; with statistical analysis (frequency and percentages) carried out based the responses given. Of the total of 538 undergraduate theses published during that time span, 127 were analyzed as relating to the area of study. The majority of these involved women (58.3%), with women's health and pregnant women's health (33.8%) predominating the themes found. As to the scenarios of care, the Brazilian public health care clinic stood out (37.0%), as well as the domicile (25.2%). Dorothea Orem's theory was the most used among these studies (25.2%). There is a great interest among these students in the area, concentrating non-hospital care scenarios. The utilization of nursing theories as theoretical references was predominant.
Nursing Research; Nursing Theory; Education Nursing Diploma Programs; Child Health; Women's Health
