In response to the needs of the different institutions of the health sector (public and private), specialization in maternal and perinatal health emerges as an alternative to try to satisfy the growing demand for specialized professionals in this area, according to the official Standard N0M 007. -SSA 2-1993 on care for women during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium of the newborn and what the risk of perinatal maternal morbidity and mortality implies, indicates that obstetric damage and risks to the health of the mother and child can be prevented, detected and treated successfully, through the application of standard procedures for care, carrying out actions that tend to favor the normal development of each one of the stages of the gestational process, preventing the appearance of complications, improving maternal-infant survival and quality of life . The purpose of specialization is for nursing personnel with maternal and perinatal specialization to perform with autonomy and responsibility. manage the criteria of attention, surveillance and prevention of the health of women of childbearing age, during pregnancy, childbirth, puerperium and care of the newborn up to 28 days of birth. Here is the importance of the specialized preparation of the nursing professional in this area. Nursing scientific practice is characterized by the use of the nursing process and its meta paradigm, which is made up of four concepts: nursing, person, health and environment; based on nursing theories and models. This specialization places emphasis on Virginia Henderson’s Theory, (Theory of the Basic Principles of Nursing Care 1960). Because it is considered the most applied and accepted by the nursing union in the health sector. Henderson defends that the person is a complex whole and presents fourteen fundamental needs, of which a correlation can be found with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. These needs common to every person, sick or healthy, are:
1. Oxygenation.
2. Nutrition and hydration.
3. Elimination of waste products from the body.
4. Move and maintain a proper position.
5. Sleep and rest.
6. Wear appropriate clothing
7. Thermoregulation
8. Maintain hygiene.
9. Avoid the dangers of the environment.
10. Communicate with other people.
11. Live by your values and beliefs.
12. Work and feel fulfilled.
13. Participate in recreational activities.
14. Learn, discover and satisfy curiosity
Regarding the concept of health, Henderson does not express her own or clear definition, but she can be seen as equating health with independence. According to the theory, health is the person’s ability to fulfill the 14 basic needs without help, and it refers to positive health, referring to prevention. Virginia Henderson brings new concepts, since, since there are not only physiological needs, but also psychological and social ones, and considering these not as a lack, but as something fundamental for the person, she is defining health not as the absence of illness as it was related until then, but as the degree of physical and mental vigor to be able to carry out activities independently. Virginia Henderson developed her conceptual model influenced by the current of integration and is included within the school of needs, the components of this school are characterized by using theories on needs and human development (Maslow, E.H. Erikson and J. Piaget .) The proper function of the nurse in basic care consists of caring for the sick or healthy individual in the execution of those activities that contribute to their health or their recovery (or to avoid suffering at the time of their death) activities that they would carry out by themselves if I had the necessary strength, will or knowledge. Likewise, it is up to the nurse to fulfill this mission in a way that helps the patient to become independent as quickly as possible. The professional role is a help service and is aimed at supplying his autonomy or completing what he lacks through the development of strength, knowledge or will, as well as helping him to die with dignity.
