ABSTRACT
Objective:
to understand the historical process of the midwives’ job in the Brazilian Northeastern semi-arid region through the oral history.
Method:
qualitative study carried out in nine municipalities of Cariri, in Ceará, with 16 midwives, using the oral history method. The semi-structured interview was used as a data collection instrument, with video interviews recorded. The reports were transcribed, textualized and transcreated, being analyzed according to the oral life history method.
Results:
the insertion of women working as midwives took place in a transcendental or essential way. It was considered an autonomous gift, divine or learned by living with other more experienced midwives. Their knowledge varied between the empirical and scientific knowledge, having been modified over time, due to the growth of the medicalization, instigating the reflection due to the professional action focused on women’s health. This valued the childbirth, making it a unique moment, respecting all its meanings and giving back to the woman her right to be a mother with humanity and security.
Conclusion:
it was evident the natural and transcendental way in which the midwives were inserted in this role, motivated by the feeling of altruism in a historical and social context of absence to universal access to health, rural geographic location and little availability of human resources in health. Thus, their values and their importance in the Brazilian obstetric health scenario were evident.
DESCRIPTORS:
Lay midwife; Obstetric nursing; Women’s health; Culture; Memory; Life history traits