Narrating childbirth: the experience of becoming a mother

Abstract

This article addresses childbirth narrative as autobiographical storytelling and a potential research tool in the fields of gender issues, motherhood, family, and health humanization. Through the analysis of Manoela's childbirth narrative, the possibilities of this type of storytelling in reshaping the physical and psychological experience of childbirth are examined, contextualizing the movement towards childbirth humanization and the fight against obstetric violence practices. It is concluded that this form of narrative has the ability to reorganize lived experience while also playing a strategic role in the political realm. Framing this type of narrative within the political, social, and economic spheres surrounding the gender dimension provides insights to explore not only individual experiences but also the socially articulated standpoint of discourses.