[Obstetric violence from the perception and experiences of women in labor, Valledupar, Colombia].

Abstract

Obstetric violence has been defined by Latin American legislatures as all actions or omissions that health personnel exercise on the body and reproductive processes of women, consisting of dehumanizing treatment, abuse of medicalization, pathologization and affecting their childbirth experience.

Objective: To make visible from the women's voices their perception of the violation of sexual and reproductive rights generated by obstetric violence.

Methodology: Qualitative, descriptive exploratory study. Intentional sample of 30 women who met the inclusion criteria, users of health institutions in Valledupar, Colombia, between 2020-2021; in-depth interview and oral accounts were used, theoretical and emergent categorization. Theoretical sample with saturation principle, internal and external validation by triangulation and consideration of ethical aspects.

Results: The participants' narratives show their perception of actions that violate their rights reflected in expressions that are interpreted in the light of the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), respected childbirth, as abuse of medicalization and non-recommended routines, in addition to reflecting hegemonic and non-therapeutic relationships, silencing and invasion of their corporeality and risks to their health and that of their child.

Conclusion: Submission, lack of warmth, experienced in a moment of vulnerability of women, produces in their psychological sphere the memory of their deliveries as negative experiences.