Resumo

CARDOSO, Junia Espinha  e  BARBOSA, Regina Helena Simões. Disagreement between desire and reality: cesarean "industry" among middle class women in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Physis [online]. 2012, vol.22, n.1, pp. 35-52. ISSN 0103-7331.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-73312012000100003.

This paper presents results of a qualitative research that aimed to apprehend and understand, among middle class women´s perception and experience, the disagreement / distance / gap between primary vaginal labor option and a cesarean outcome. Fifteen women who had a private health insurance plan were interviewed about their experiences and perceptions related to their prenatal care and parturition process. Results showed a pervasive or explicit intervention of the obstetrician on women's choice, influencing on the cesarean outcome and suggesting that, for many women, it is still difficult to escape from the "trap" of the mercantilist, intervening and "iatrogenic" biomedical model, which is still firmly institutionalized and legitimated in our society. These results intend to collaborate with actions aimed to promote women's citizenship related to the right to make decisions on their reproductive choices, preserving and undertaking the parturition experience as unique and indefeasible right for all women, their partners and relatives.

Palavras-chave : cesarean section; middle class; gender; reproductive rights.