Resumo
In spite of increased coverage of prenatal care and hospitalized births, maternal mortality coefficients have stabilized at relatively high values. This is attributed here to inadequate care. One of the components of the process of care is interpersonal relationships and these have been associated with the concept of humanization. A strong international movement with increasing theoretical production can be identified, in which humanization of childbirth care is taken to be a response both to the mechanization of the way in which professional work is organized and to institutional violence. However, ‘humanization’ is a polysemic term, and the perspective that is adopted and the sense that is conferred need to be identified when this term is used.
