translated from Spanish: Buenos Aires Province approved the Respected Childbirth Implementation Guide

Within the framework of National Law No. 25,929 on Humanized Childbirth, the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires approved a Guide to the Implementation of Respected Childbirth to be applied in health facilities at all levels. It was approved on the basis of this resolution, which establishes that awareness-raising campaigns, promotion and training actions must be coordinated “to guarantee the full exercise of the right of pregnant persons and newborns during the process of pregnancy, childbirth, birth and puerperium”.
These actions are coordinated with the municipal governments, the IOMA, the social works, the private subsector, professional associations and social organizations. Work will also be done to develop mechanisms and tools for community guidance.As part of its foundations, reference was made to the National Law on Respected Childbirth, passed in 2004, which “implied an important advance in the field of reproductive rights and aims to establish the rights that every pregnant person has in relation to pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium, as well as for the newborn”.

Through this law, which is applicable in public, private and social security health establishments, it is established that everyone must be treated with respect, individually and on a personalized basis. In addition, it guarantees the right to privacy throughout the care process, respect for its cultural patterns and to receive adequate and understandable information. At the same time, it was recalled the National Law on Comprehensive Protection to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Violence against Women, which complements the Law on Respected Childbirth, the Law on Sexual Health and Responsible Procreation, the Law known as the “Equal Marriage Law”, the Gender Identity Law, the National Law on Assisted Fertilization, among other regulations.

The document also presented some indicators that make visible the magnitude of the remaining challenges: in the province of Buenos Aires there is a growing trend of caesarean sections in the public sector; in 2011 a rate of 27% was recorded while in 2019 that same percentage rose to 36%. Also, in that year, 52% of the people who had their first birth underwent an episiotomy, a practice that is not routinely recommended. On the other hand, in relation to the accompaniment in childbirth, although there was an increase of 92% in the accompaniments in the period 2011 to 2019, in the last year registered 44% of the people were not accompanied in the same

Original source in Spanish