[Nurses' conceptualization on childbirth preparation]. / Conceitualização pelas enfermeiras de preparação para o parto.

Descriptive, exploratory and qualitative study, carried out through the Delphi Technique, with a sample of 32 obstetrics specialist nurses working in 3 hospitals and 9 primary health care centers in the district of Oporto, Northern Portugal. The purposes of this work were: 1. to identify a group of nurses' ideas and consensual conceptions about Childbirth Preparation; 2. to know which information sources are consensually more used by nurses; 3. to know how they accept Childbirth Preparation programs as a way for pregnant women to have an active delivery. Results revealed that Childbirth Preparation is, according to the participants, an educational moment toward health, involving technical, educational, relational and informative procedures of great importance to pregnant women and nurses. This involves the period from the start of pregnancy to the puerperium, as a means of changing wrong behaviors with a view to achieving an expected goal of health gains for pregnant women and their family.