Pregnancy questions: the experience of women accompanied in primary health care

Abstract

This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, exploratory study with a quantitative approach, carried out between February and June 2019, with 33 pregnant women in the coverage area of a Basic Health Unit located in the Northwestern region of the state of Paraná, Brazil. It aimed to identify the main doubts experienced during pregnancy by women being cared for in primary health care. A semi-structured questionnaire and interview were used; data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Age was between 19 and 35 years (78.79%), non-white race/color (54.55%), nine years or more of education (87.88%), with a partner (93.94%), occupation paid professional (57.58%), income equal to or greater than three minimum wages (72.72%) and a number of people living in the same household less than or equal to five (87.88%). Two or more previous pregnancies (75.76%), vaginal delivery (42.42%), current pregnancy being unplanned (63.64%), being in the second trimester (51.52%); with low and high gestational risk (42.42% each). Of the interviewees, 61% reported doubts categorized as: Physiological alterations; Delivery and childbirth; Breastfeeding; Newborn care; and Others. In support networks, there are: the mother, the internet and the Basic Health Unit (UBS). In 52% of the pregnant women there were suggestions for changes, with special reference to UBS professionals and the way in which prenatal consultations were conducted. Thus, the health professional must follow the pregnant women in an understandable way, seeing them as a whole, to clarify fears and anxieties, seeking to provide a positive and safe experience of pregnancy.