Rede de apoio ao parto humanizado: um estudo sobre as aprendizagens e saberes das mulheres em um grupo do Facebook

Abstract

Within the context of the struggle for humanized birth in Brazil, since the end of the 1990s, several organized groups have seen in the electronic lists an effective space for communication, articulation and dissemination of the cause. As Internet and social networks usage have become completely mainstream, the number of women with access to these virtual spaces increased significantly. These practices were renewed by cyberculture, which enables communication between people beyond the unidirectional flow, facilitating more horizontal exchanges and boosting knowledge sharing. Thus, it is relevant to investigate to what extent this cyberspace have become a privileged territory for exchanges among people who are interested in humanized birth as well as if it is able to reinforce the participants’ agency. In order to do this, we have documented and analyzed the interactions among the participants on the Facebook page Parto Humanizado do Ceará (PHC). A qualitative research was carried out with participatory observation, based on the ethnographic studies on cyberspace and using, especially, the following research tools: the collection of pictures from some relevant posts, a record digital book and semi-structured interviews. In this sense, the PHC Facebook group has revealed itself as a space where the participants carry out actions and connections that link the several nodes in the network. This network provides emotional and informative support and generates learning, from a dialogical relationship permeated by affectivity among participants.