Guidelines on high-risk prenatal delivery in health services

Objective: to unveil the guidance received on childbirth during high-risk prenatal care in health services in the light of Social Representations Theory. Method: an exploratory descriptive study with qualitative approach, with the Social Representations Theory as a methodological theoretical framework. Data collection occurred between October 2017 and January 2018, in a maternity hospital in northern Paraná, during the hospitalization of 20 puerperal women. Semi-structured interviews and thematic content analysis were used. Results: the category emerged: Knowledge developed in the face of health guidelines for pregnant women. The central nucleus was configured in care directed to women’s health and their empowerment in the pregnancy-puerperal cycle. Conclusion: health guidelines were similar at both levels of care, being directed to fetal health and well-being. Risk situations to newborns were identified in the emergency room that could result in premature cesarean delivery and complications to the conceptus.