This article is part of an investigation which used the institutional ethnography of Dorothy Smith, aiming to describe women's process of choice in planned home birth. It used interviews held with 17 women who gave birth at home between 2008 and 2010 in Rio de Janeiro. We selected one category: information - a step for the option for planned home birth. The category was constructed based on six subcategories: knowing persons who had a home birth; knowing persons with negative experiences; the Internet as a source of information; books as a source of information, information from health professionals; and, the exchanging of information between women. The information acts as a network of knowledge, reports and experiences in their symbolic dimensions, favoring the raising of consciousness and the social organization of support. These knowledges and practices are a foundation for a social understanding and the women's discourse in the option for planned home birth.
Health policy; Normal birth; Information; Obstetric nursing