“A ‘dieta’ é tempo de cuidados”: práticas de autoatenção no puerpério no cenário rural

Aims: to discover the meanings of the self-care practices of women living in rural areas regarding the puerperium; to identify the interfaces of these practices with the different models of health care. Method: ethnography conducted in three small city rural communities in the North of Rio Grande do Sul/Brazil. Seventeen participants were involved. Observation-Participation-Reflection techniques and ethnographic interviews were employed in the data collection. In the analytical process, a thematic analysis proposal was used. Results: it was verified that the puerperium is marked by self-care practices related to food, physical activity, hygiene, and sociability arising from the family/community, with little connection with the professional healthcare sector. Conclusion: these practices are intended to protect the women who just gave birth, who, in their social group’s interpretation, are in a liminal state between health and sickness. Simultaneously, they also grant considerable power to the postnatal women and their families.