Labor and childbirth care in maternity facilities in Brazil's North and Northeast regions: perceptions of the evaluators of the Stork Network Program

This article eevaluates delivery and birth care practices in maternity facilities in Brazil's North and Northeast regions. We conducted a qualitative evaluation of 91 facilities in the North and 181 facilities in the Northeast. The data was collected using systematic observation by a team of 44 previously trained evaluators and recorded in a field diary. A thematic analysis of the collected data was performed, resulting in three core themes: challenges of collegial management; challenges for coping with obstetric violence; and the potential of the evaluation process for driving change. Advances were made in the implementation of good labor and childbirth care practices; however, some maternity facilities still reproduce hierarchical models without spaces for collegial management and accounts of obstetric violence were common. Health professionals used the presence of risk to justify the low level of adoption of good practices. However, the findings reveal progress towards the humanization of care. The results also show the potential of the evaluation process for driving change. Although progress has been made towards the adoption of the good practices recommended by the Stork Network Program both in the area of management and care delivery, many challenges remain in view of the dominance of a hierarchical management model associated with an interventionist approach to health care.