USP cancels course on ‘childbirth and Christian spirituality’ – 01/17/2024 – Education

USP (University of São Paulo) canceled on Tuesday morning (16) an extension course that was intended for nurses and other professionals and students in the field of obstetrics called “Childbirth and Christian Spirituality”.

Classes were scheduled for February, with four meetings promoted by EACH (School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities). The course description, which until Tuesday evening was available on the university’s website, cited the concept of “traditional family”, a term that limits the idea of ​​family to a group made up of mother, father and children.

A Sheet found that the creation of the course provoked a reaction from the student and teaching body.

In a statement, USP states that the cancellation took place with the aim of “ensuring the maintenance of the University of São Paulo as a public and secular institution”. It also says that the cancellation occurred through the School’s Culture and Extension Committee, which is responsible for extension activities at USP.

Midwife and former college student, Ana Cristina Duarte criticized the course, which in her opinion contained “a series of misconceptions about family and gender”. “It doesn’t make any sense, it’s a step backwards. The syllabus is an aberration. The university is secular, it doesn’t make sense to mix religion.”

In the course’s justification text it is stated that, to have a family, “two paternal and maternal gametes are necessary, thus, the traditional family originates at the moment when there is a union of a man and a woman, and the result is the conception of a new being, which was generated and will grow and develop in the mother’s womb for up to 42 weeks of gestation. The family is the way to promote the spiritual protection of the children who will be conceived from this union”.

Extension courses are offered as a complement to training and are also open to people outside the university.

According to the proposal, the classes aimed to reflect spirituality in its physiological stages, including conception, development and growth of the fetus, childbirth, birth and postpartum. It also included “looking at mourning and reflecting spirituality in this process of fetal loss.”

The text also said that the course would respect “the Christian approach by presenting each theme with its theoretical and scientific framework”.

The classes would be taught by seven teachers and were intended, among other measures, to update professionals in the field of obstetrics and obstetric nursing, whether in prenatal care, childbirth or postpartum.