Moysés Goldstein Paciornik (4 October 1914 – 26 December 2008) was a Brazilian

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

. He was born in the city of

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

in the

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

state, located in

Southern Brazil The South Region of Brazil ( ) is one of the five regions of Brazil. It includes the states of Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina, and covers , being the smallest region of the country, occupying only about 6.76% of the territory of ...

. He graduated in Medicine in 1938. In 1959 he founded the Paranaense Center for Medical Research, which he was director.Statement of Health Merit Award by the Paraná legislative 9-8-2006
The center was dedicated to the prevention of cancer and

gynecological Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

services extended to indigenous reservations in southern Brazil, at which time Moysés became a supporter of

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

birth, noting that the

Kaingang The Kaingang people are an Indigenous peoples in Brazil, Indigenous Brazilian ethnic group spread out over the three southern Brazilian states of Paraná (state), Paraná, Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and the sout ...

indigenous tribe, despite having many children, had firmer

vaginal In mammals and other animals, the vagina (: vaginas or vaginae) is the elastic, muscular reproductive organ of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vulval vestibule to the cervix (neck of the uterus). The vaginal introit ...

muscles than city women.Pioneer, a champion of women and healthy life. Life and Citizenship. 27-12-2008
He wrote several books and belonged to the Paraná Academy of Arts, to the Brazilian Academy of Medical Writers and was the pioneer of the

pap smear The Papanicolaou test (abbreviated as Pap test, also known as Pap smear (AE), cervical smear (BE), cervical screening (BE), or smear test (BE)) is a method of cervical screening used to detect potentially precancerous and cancerous processes in ...

screening test in Brazil. At the

Federal University of Paraná The Federal University of Paraná (, UFPR) is a public university headquartered in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. UFPR is considered to be one of the oldest universities in Brazil. UFPR ranks as 37th best university in Latin-America and it is among ...

(UFPR), he founded the chair of Prenatal Care in 1952. Moysés Paciornik died on December 26, 2008, of cardiac arrest and was buried on the 28th in

.Death of physician who was famous in Brazil as an advocate of squatting births. G1 Globo News. 27-12-2008.
/ref> His son Claudio Paciornik carries on with his work.

Publications

* (with Claudio Paciornik) ''Birth in the Squatting Position'' (1979) Polymorph Films * (with Claudio Paciornik
Birth and Rooming-In: Lessons Learned from the Forest Indians of Brazil Birth 1983 Summer;10(2):119.
* Commentary: arguments against

episiotomy Episiotomy, also known as perineotomy, is a surgical incision of the perineum and the posterior vaginal wall generally done by an obstetrician. This is usually performed during the second stage of labor to quickly enlarge the aperture, allowing ...

and in favor of squatting for birth. Birth 1990 Dec;17(4):234, 236. and Birth 1991 Jun;18(2):119. * Use of the squatting position for birth. Birth 1992 Dec;19(4):230-1.

References

External links

Paciornik Clinic

Davis-Floyd R Changing Childbirth: The Latin American Example Midwifery Today, Volume #84, pp. 9-13, 64-65. Winter 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paciornik, Moyses Natural childbirth advocates People from Curitiba Brazilian Jews Brazilian obstetricians 2008 deaths 1914 births Squatting position

Publications

See also

References

External links