From pride to resignation: education and practice of midwives graduated at the Universidade de São Paulo

Abstract

This is a qualitative study, based on the Oral History approach. The aimwas to describe and analyze the education and practice of midwives graduated by the Universidade de São Paulo, until 1970. Oral resources were interviews with ten midwives, conducted between 2000 and 2001. Requirements for application were increasing along years. Characteristics of the course indicate pedagogical rigidity, strict disciplinary, vast didactic load, importance of practical learning and dedication of professors and instructors. Midwives professional practice consisted mainly in the care given during delivery at several private and some public hospitals and maternities, including the Home Obstetric Service. After 1970s, the midwives and nurse-midwives were being excluded from birth care and substituted by doctors. These testimonies reveal an enchantment by the profession that survives despite the feeling of resignation due to the “almost extinction” of midwives, in São Paulo.