BETWEEN FICTION AND REALITY: OBSTETRIC EMERGENCIES IN BRAZIL

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.1593372329054

• Palavras-chave: Fetal hypoxemia. Umbilical cord prolapse. Childbirth assistance.

• Keywords: Fetal hypoxemia. Umbilical cord prolapse. Childbirth assistance.

• Abstract:

  The film “Pieces of a woman”, by Kornél Mundruczó, in the first minutes portrays the delivery of the protagonist Martha. There are minutes of pain and a lot of suffering, without medical follow-up, which ends with the death of the newborn due to lack of oxygenation. This film highlights the importance of emergency obstetric care even during childbirth. Objective: To elucidate obstetric emergencies based on the film “Pieces Of Woman”. Methodology: A narrative bibliographic review was carried out, focusing on Narrative Medicine, based on articles published on the SciELO platform and Brazilian Journal. Results: Obstetric emergencies are characterized by situations that endanger the health of the fetus and mother during pregnancy and even during childbirth. In the movie, a possible diagnosis that could have led to a sudden decrease in heart rate is umbilical cord prolapse and, as there was no hospital follow-up, the result was fetal hypoxemia. The incidence of umbilical cord prolapse, regardless of the form - occult to the vaginal canal or external - was 0.016% in the 2016 reports. Conclusion: During labor, it is possible that there are complications that are characterized as Obstetric Emergencies and, therefore, pregnant women must be accompanied by a care team. The database on obstetric emergencies focusing on umbilical cord prolapse is still inconsistent in Brazil. Despite being a rare condition, it still does not exclude the need for prenatal care and delivery assistance in order to prevent fetal and maternal death.