Running head: BRAZIL

Brazil: Childbirth Traditions

Amy Lynn Boyd
NURS 320
February 26 2015

Running head: BRAZIL

I was really glad I was able to do my cultural competency assignment on the

country of Brazil because I was an exchange student there from August 2008 to July of
2009 so really wanted to get in touch with the family who hosted to see if they knew of
any rituals, traditions, and/or customs surrounding childbirth. My host sister, Gabriela,
told me several different specific beliefs related to pregnancy, the immediate postpartum
period, and one regarding the care of the newborn. She did not inform me on any beliefs
related to labor and delivery and only one regarding the care of the newborn, so I
supplemented my research with scholarly articles.
First of all, as mentioned above, the first thing I did when I found out I was able
to do Brazil for this assignment was contact my host family. My host mom never replied,
which actually worked out because my Portuguese is definitely rusty nowadays. Then, I
contacted my host sister, Gabriela, on Facebook, and she replied (thankfully she speaks
great English) that same day with several different Brazilian beliefs related to pregnancy,
the immediate postpartum period, and the care of the newborn. I was informed that there
are several beliefs regarding pregnancy. One of them demonstrates just how serious
pregnancy cravings are taken: Brazilians believe that if a woman does not eat what she is
craving, the baby will come out looking like that food (G. Mauricio, personal
communication, February 19, 2015). Gabriela mentioned that this specific belief is
probably in place so the pregnant woman has a legit argument to be able to receive what
she is craving (personal communication, February 19, 2015). Another belief that
Gabriela informed me on is that a pregnant woman should not look at ugly people
because if she does, her baby will come out to be ugly (personal communication,
February 19, 2015). Furthermore, it is believed in Brazil that if a pregnant woman has a

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pointier belly, she is pregnant with a baby boy, and if her belly is more rounded, she is
pregnant with a baby girl (G. Mauricio, personal communication, February 19, 2015).
Because I did not find any information from my first-hand resource in regard to
labor and delivery in Brazil, I supplemented my findings with research. According to the
article Childbirth in Brazil: Challenging an Interventionist Paradigm by Eugene
Declercq, the C-section rate in Brazil was 52 percent in 2012, which may be the highest
national rate in the world (2015). This article goes on to examine many different aspects
that may be the cause of this high rate, including women electing to get C-sections for the
most common reason of fear of labor pain, which Declercq goes on to follow up with the
unnecessary interventions that are performed during labor and delivery (2015). These
interventions or lack thereof include not allowing women to ambulate/being immobile
during labor, a high episiotomy rate, fundal pressure, a high percentage of unnecessary
Pitocin usage, and a low percentage of non-pharmacological pain measures used
(Declercq, E., 2015). It is concluded that a caesarean may seem like a reasonable
alternative when all of this is taken into consideration (Declercq, E., 2015). Although
Cesarean sections can save lives in many instances, they are accompanied by many risks
and complications as we have learned, so something definitely needs to be done in regard
to obstetric care in Brazil.
In regard to the postpartum period, Gabi informed me that it is custom in Brazil
for the pregnant woman to prepare and give visitors who come to see her and the new
baby little gifts (or lembrancinhas in Portuguese). (personal communication, February
19, 2015). These little gifts are usually all the same and usually contain the babys name
and thank you note for visiting; some examples include candies, magnets, little perfume

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bottles, etc. (G. Mauricio, personal communication, February 19, 2015). I found this very
interesting because it is more of a custom to bring the mother and new baby gifts here in
the United States. Furthermore, in regard to the umbilical cord, Gabi informed me that
there are two rituals that can be chosen to be performed: one is to keep it and throw it on
the roof of the home to symbolize that the child is always with the mother or throw it in
the ocean to symbolize that the child will win the world and be free (personal
communication, February 19, 2015). Gabi also told me that it is believed that if the
mother drinks caldo de cana, which means sugarcane juice, her breast milk production
will increase (personal communication, February 19, 2015).
Lastly, Gabi only told me about one specific belief on newborn care in Brazil. It is
believed that if you give a baby water to drink, the baby will talk sooner (G. Mauricio,
personal communication, February 19, 2015). It was also said that sometimes the mothers
regret this because the baby ends up talking too much (G. Mauricio, personal
communication, February 19, 2015). Because I did not find much about newborn care
from my first-hand resource, I researched to supplement. According to Clinical practices
in the hospital care of healthy newborn infant in Brazil, many unnecessary interventions
are performed to the newborn after delivery, which interferes with the mother/baby bond
that is so crucial immediately following childbirth (Moreira et al., 2014). Interventions
that are unnecessarily and excessively performed include aspiration of the upper airways
and gastric suctioning (Moreira et al., 2014). Consequently, there is a low percentage of
breastfeeding in the delivery room and skin-to-skin contact immediately after delivery of
the infant (Moreira et al., 2014). Based on evidence, it is important for breastfeeding and

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skin-to-skin contact to occur as soon as possible after the birth of the newborn, so
hopefully this changes soon.
As you can see, there are many specific beliefs regarding pregnancy, the
postpartum period, and the care of the newborn in Brazil. There are also healthcare trends
in regard to labor and delivery and the care of the newborn that because of all the
evidenced-based knowledge I have gained in maternity class, I would not agree with. I
found that Brazils healthcare system definitely needs improvement in obstetrics and
newborn care, but I had a lot of fun discovering the different Brazilian beliefs from my
host sister, Gabriela. I hope that if I were to care for a Brazilian native as an L&D,
postpartum or even nursery nurse, that I will be sensitive to their specific cultural beliefs
now that I have completed this assignment.

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6
References

Declercq, E (2105). Childbirth in Brazil: Challenging an interventionist paradigm.

Retrieved from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/birt.12156/epdf
Moreira, M. E. L., Gama, S. G. N. D., Pereira, A. P. E., Silva, A. A. M. D., Lansky, S.,
Pinheiro, R. D. S., . . . Leal, M. D. C. (2014). Clinical practices in the hospital
care of healthy newborn infant in Brazil. Retrieved from:
http://www.scielosp.org/pdf/csp/v30s1/en_0102-311X-csp-30-s1-0128.pdf