Born in Brazil: shining a light for change

The Birth in Brazil study is the largest national hospital-based survey in Brazil regarding birth practices. Conducted in 2011-2012, it collected information from 266 public and private healthcare facilities and interviewed nearly 24,000 postpartum women. It is also the latest effort to map out how labor and delivery are managed in this county in the 21st century. The journal Reproductive Health has published a supplement including 10 articles presenting the results of a series of analyses using this valuable resource. These articles describe a range of practices, determinants and risk factors that affect women and their babies in Brazil, a country of paradoxes. In the era of overmedicalization and high-tech medicine -arguably -, these articles highlight the unprecedented rates of cesarean sections in Brazil and differences between the public and the private sectors. It provides evidence for the need for adequate human resources, medications and emergency care equipment in many settingsand explains the use of non-evidence based interventions during labor and delivery. On the other hand, these studies also point to promising interventions that could be used to change this situation not only in Brazil but also in other countries facing similar challenges.World Health OrganizationUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Internal Med, Evidence Based Healthcare Postgrad Programme, Sao Paulo, BrazilWHO, World Bank Special Programme Res Dev & Res Traini, Dept Reprod Hlth & Res, UNDP,UNFPA,UNICEF, Geneva, SwitzerlandInst Clin Effectiveness & Hlth Policy IECS, Buenos Aires, DF, ArgentinaDepartment of Internal Medicine, Evidence Based Healthcare Post-Graduate Programme, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, BrazilWHO: 001Web of Scienc