OBJECTIVES: to evaluated the structure and care provided on delivery and for newborns by the maternity an neonatal unit of a tertiary hospital of the interior of State of São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: a crosscutting descriptive study was carried out in accordance with the desired standards of the Ministry of Health and World Health Organization regarding care on delivery, evaluating the resources and the activities developed during suchcare. The data were collected in 2004 and 2005 from an interview with the maternity manager, analysis of 293 medical reports and observation of 29 deliveries. RESULTS: the evaluation of the structure provided evidence of the availability of equipment, instruments, medicines and a medical team, but a lack of predelivery, delivery and puerperium rooms. It was observed that arterial pressure and fetal heartbeatwere checked frequently on admission and filling outof partograms was satisfactory. In terms of care for the newborn, the frequency of breastfeeding in the first hour of life and skintoskin contact were unsatisfactory. CONCLUSIONS: some useful natural delivery practices were rarely employed. An inclination to incorporate scientific evidence was noticed in proceedings such as shaving, enteroclysis and episiotomy, demon-strating a positive change in delivery care.
Humanizing delivery; Health evaluation; Parturition
