Presence of relatives during testing for brain stem death: questionnaire study.

Contributors: SFM is the sole author of this paper. She initiated the research, designed the protocol and the data collection instruments, conducted the in-depth interviews, coded and analysed the qualitative and quantitative data and wrote the paper. Fanny Serani (lecturer at the University of Chile) participated in the piloting of the survey instrument and conducted the postnatal survey interviews. Mary Ann Elston (senior lecturer in the department of social and political science at Royal Holloway College, University of London) discussed core ideas and commented on an early draft of the paper. Angie Wade (senior lecturer, Institute of Child Health) provided statistical advice. Funding: The study was supported by grant RD352 from the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The views expressed, however, are those of the author and do not represent the views of the DFID. Competing interests: None declared. 1 Bélizan JM, Althabe F, Barros FC, Alexander S. Rates and implications of caesarean sections in Latin America: ecological study. BMJ 1999;319:1397-400. 2 Murray SF, Serani Pradenas F. Cesarean birth trends in Chile 1986 to 1994. Birth 1997;24:258-63. 3 Miranda E, Scarpaci JL, Irarrázaval I. A decade of HMOs in Chile: market behaviour, consumer choice and the state. Health and Place 1995;1:51-9. 4 Seale C. The quality of qualitative research. London: Sage, 1999;1-210. 5 Faúndes A, Cecatti JG. Which policy for caesarean sections in Brazil? An analysis of trends and consequences. Health Policy and Planning 1993;8:33-42. 6 Hopkins K. Are Brazilian women really choosing to deliver by cesarean? Soc Sci Med 2000;51:725-40. 7 Castro A. Commentary: increase in caesarean sections may reflect medical control not women’s choice. BMJ 1997;319:1401-2. 8 De Mello, Souza C. C-sections as ideal births: the cultural constructions of beneficence and patients’ rights in Brazil. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1994;3:358-66. 9 Schnapp C, Sepulveda W. Rise in caesarean births in Chile. Lancet 1997;349:1029.