The postpartum appointment: women’s needs from the perspective of social needs in health care.

Abstract

Postpartum appointments are essential in women health care. This study aimed at identifying the social health needs of women during postpartum. A survey was conducted with 50 puerperal women of the Curitiba Mother Program receiving care at basic health units of a health district of the city of Curitiba, Paraná, southern Brazil. An instrument with objective questions was applied in February and March, 2007, to collect the data. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The most frequently mentioned set of needs was “to be someone with the right to be different”, whereas the least mentioned was “link with health professional and team”. The latter appears as a positive aspect of the nurse’s (and health team) work, whereas the first shows the need to build practices to strengthen the autonomy and the self-reliance of women in health care.