Maternidade Nascer Cidadão (Born a Citizen)
Nascer Cidadão serves poor and homeless pregnant women, including many street girls. The program provides dignity and respect during birth and the first week of an infant’s life, with the hope that being “born a citizen” will translate into life as a full member of Brasilian society. Because of a committed staff, a remarkable physical plant, and substantial investments by the city of Goiânia (now run by the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT, democratic socialist)), Nascer Cidadão provides obstetrical care worthy of the best American hospitals.
The building itself is central to Nascer Cidadão’s mission. Though located in one of the most marginal favelas of Goiânia, the architecture is beautiful; the lobby is large, and open, with high ceilings, and filled with plants and flowers. Mothers are provided individual rooms with easy access to courtyards. Common spaces, benches, etc. encourage women to sit and talk with each other or with staff. Everything is obsessively cleaned. The idea, says the director, Dr. Sebastião Moreira, is to show even the poorest woman that she deserves and receives respect, and in relation to the average Brasilian hospital, it works.
Respect is also shown in the administration of the clinic. Appointments are spaced so that there is never a line (the curse of most public health programs in Brasil). All doctors and nurses must learn the names of all mothers at all times (Significantly, women are knows as “mothers,” not “patients.”). While I was visiting, a stream of young women knocked on the director’s door: he welcomed all of them, never shunting them aside for "more important" work. Doctors show affection by regular hugs, touching of the hands, etc.
Because most mothers are very poor, and many actually live on the street, ob/gyn services are insufficient. Doctors also work with general health care, issues of violence, STDs, and improvement of domestic situations.
Nascer Cidadão believes firmly in natural birthing techniques. C-sections and drugs are used, but generally as a last resort. Mothers do not give birth in bed, but in specially designed chairs, pools, or while standing. Mothers are required to stay at the clinic for a certain time, though many stay for up to a week, on a case by case basis; Nascer Cidadão has had some problems of mothers who do not wish to leave. It is so much nicer than their houses or the street, after all.
The program came into existence after constant pressure by favela organizers in La Vitoria, one of Goiânia’s poorest slums. This pressure, filtered through the Partido dos Trabalhadores, eventually resulted in the serious financial commitment needed to make the program work.
Rachel Siegel, a medical student from the United States, did a practicum at Nascer Cidadão in 2003. To download her excellent essay about the experience, click here.
Maternidade Nascer Cidadão
Av. Oriente s/n -- APM
Jardim Curitiba III
Goiânia
Goias
74431.340
tel: 62 298 1214
62 9975 3977 (cell)
Contact: Sebastião Moreira, sebamore@ig.com.br
