Beliefs and humanized pregnancy care: analysis of holistic maternity hospitals in Guadalajara, Mexico

Abstract

This paper analyzes the reasons why pregnant women in Guadalajara, Mexico, opt for humanized care during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as the embodied beliefs and practices associated with this type of care. The methodology was qualitative, with a gender perspective and from the biographical- narrative and ethnographic designs. The participants were seven first-time pregnant women, upper or upper middle class and with higher education. Humanized care was chosen due to mistrust, dissatisfaction and rejection of public and private hospital care for pregnancy; to achieve the participation of the father in the pregnancy, and by affinity with a New Age and holistic ideology of motherhood. Among the conclusions, it stands out that humanized pregnancy care promotes a disciplining of the body, is associated with beliefs in gods, healing angels, lunar effects, energies and emotional connections.