[How the workers of a birthing center justify using harmful practices in natural childbirth]

This study was performed with the objective of understanding the reasons why workers of a birthing center in southern Brazil use natural birth practices considered harmful by the World Health Organization. This exploratory study was performed in July 2009 through interviews with 23 workers. The analysis revealed three themes: Actions and behaviors dependent on health workers; Routine practices as facilitators of work; and Restricting the parturients' participation in the decision-making process. Some justifications for using the practices were: perpetuation of inappropriate models, facilitation of the care provided during delivery and authoritarianism that some workers impose over parturients in the erroneous belief that workers have all the knowledge.