Giving Brazilian women access to evidence based information in Portuguese: The translation of Pregnancy and Childbirth Group PLS

Article type
Authors
Audebert Delage Silva D1, Grilo Diniz C2, Mulheres em Rede pela Maternidade Ativa P1
1Parto do Princípio-Mulheres em Rede pela Maternidade Ativa, Brazil
2Univeersidade de São Paulo, Brazil
Abstract
Background: Parto do Princípio is a network of social activists who advocate for active childbirth, created in 2005. The network presents itself through a website (www.partodoprincipio.com.br), a blog (www.partodoprincipio.blogspot.com), the social network Orkut, and support groups that hold free of charge meetings, providing information, creating awareness and supporting women who want to give birth actively. These actions aim at spreading evidence based information from the Cochrane Collaboration as well as World Health Organization’s recommendations. However, there is a lack of texts in plain language Portuguese, and most Brazilian women, including support group coordinators, do not read English and could benefit from the translation of systematic reviews plain language summaries (PLS) in the Pregnancy and Childbirth Group into Portuguese.

Objectives: To broaden access to the original systematic reviews for Brazilian women.

Methods: During the 18th Cochrane Collaboration Colloquium, Parto do Princípio proposed Cochrane Collaboration editors and The Brazilian Cochrane Centre the translation of PLS of systematic reviews. After acceptance of the proposal, activists who were translators and editors were identified and recruited to form a group to undertake the task. Each PLS is translated by one person, then peer reviewed by another and finally reviewed for Portuguese language appropriateness. The final work is then to be sent to the directing board of the Brazilian Cochrane Centre for appraisal and validation of the method, and publication.

Results: To date, ten PLS are going through the process of translation.

Conclusions: Access to evidence based information in Portuguese is essential to bring awareness of the need to promote a change of paradigm in pregnancy and childbirth care in Brazil, and the availability of systematic review PLS is a potent tool to fulfill that need.