Abstract
Objective: To verify the knowledge of the risks associated with cesarean delivery among pregnant women attending prenatal care at a Municipal Health Unit. Methods: This was a descriptive study with a qualitative approach. Twelve pregnant women between 18 and 38 years old attended a Basic Health Unit in the municipality of Belém in the state of Pará, where the information was collected through a semi-structured interview; the analysis of the data was carried out from the proposal of analysis of Bardin; the study was approved by the research ethics committee of the Metropolitan University of Amazonia. Results: from the analysis of the data emerged the following categories: Characterizing the study participants according to the socioeconomic profile; Understanding of pregnant women about the risks related to cesarean delivery; and Main information received during prenatal care on the risks related to cesarean delivery; observing that most pregnant women are unaware of the cesarean's risks. Conclusion: Most interviewees don’t know the real risk of cesarean, and in many situations are induced to perform this surgery or even this procedure is imposed by health professionals. It is expected from the study contributions with the debate about the knowledge of the risks of cesarean delivery.