Natural, normal, and friendly childbirth: homonymous terms

Abstract

This qualitative investigation discusses homonymy of the terms natural, normal, and friendly childbirth and their effects on childbirth care. Under the perspective of the contemporary cultural theories and gender studies, the Program for Humanizing labor and delivery are analyzed, based on the contents of semi-structured interviews with physicians and nurses of a training hospital in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This article highlights and explores convergences, ambiguities, overlaps, and conflicts among these three delivery types, indicating polysemies, and blurring of boundaries among terms and inside each term, which influence care.