Strengthening midwifery in Brazil: education, regulation and professional association of midwives.

This article describes Brazilian midwives' struggle to establish their professional field in the arena of maternal and child health in Brazil. Despite the obstacles, midwives continue trying to claim their social space, seeking to maintain and strengthen the profession, and legislative aspects of practice and regulation of their profession. They seek space in the job market, support from entities of civil society, representatives of judicial and political power, and from the movements organised for improvement and change in the birth care model in Brazil.