Abstract

This article presents the experiences of ten women between the ages of 15 and 19 who suffered obstetric violence in healthcare centers in Costa Rica between the years 2007 and 2020. To achieve this objective, an exploratory qualitative methodology was used, in which a survey with in-depth interviews was applied, with the purpose of analyzing the perceptions and visions of women regarding pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. The analysis was carried out considering human rights and humanized childbirth, the violation of the right to health and life, due to not receiving clear and timely information, not respecting their privacy, and inhumane treatment, scenarios that are invisible by social, cultural, and educational factors. Among the findings discovered, it is observed that the state of Costa Rica -through the health system and its healthcare personnel- must examine the structural practices developed in institutional daily life. The conclusions call for reflection on the need to re-educate healthcare personnel so that actions are implemented to modify behaviors that harm the physical, emotional, psychological, and social health of women. Humanized childbirth care should be executed from the exercise of human rights, in public and private institutional care units.

Keywords: Humanized childbirth; care in childbirth; humanization of childbirth; obstetric violence; human rights.