ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE This study aims to assess the degree of adequacy of prenatal care (PNC) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) and in its 7 macro-regions considering the time of PNC initiation and the number of appointments attended. It also aims to verify the mode of delivery prevalence and the factors associated with PNC adequacy by mode of delivery. METHODS Sub analysis from a cross-sectional study conducted among 13,432 childbearing women aged 15–49 years assisted in 66 […]

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of severe acute maternal morbitidy and identify its associated hospital procedures. METHODS: Data from the Hospital Information System, obtained from the Municipal Secretariat of Health of the city of Juiz de Fora, Southeastern Brazil, for the years 2006 and 2007, were used. The studied women included those admitted to the hospital for obstetric procedures (n = 8,620), and whose primary diagnosis was included within chapter XV: pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium of the International Classification of […]

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of cesarean sections in Brazilian hospitals. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out with data from the World Health Organization’s Global Data System for Maternal and Perinatal Health, for the Brazilian states of São Paulo, Pernambuco and the Federal District. Data relating to 15,354 women who gave birth between September/2004 and March/2005 were analyzed, according to sociodemographic, reproductive, and hospital-related characteristics. Bivariate analyses – with calculations of the prevalence ratios and respective confidence intervals – […]

INTRODUCTION: A medical audit on the prenatal care program in the Vila Municipal Health Center, Pelotas, RS, Brazil, was described with the purpose of verifying the aspects of the medical process and improving the program’s effectiveness. METHODS: Data from prenatal specific records were collected. Pregnant women with delivery due date in 1997 and in the first semester of 1998 were included in the study. Women registered in the program when they were 4-month pregnant and who had had at least […]

It was analysed an area in Osasco, São Paulo, with 40,134 inhabitants in order to know how the pregnant women from the area were assisted in this area. This area does not have pre-natal care to assist these pregnant women. A formulary was constructed and applied to a samples of 1,036 families. The results showed a high number of hospital deliveries, analysed a high conantration of prenatal consults (each pregnant woman went to the doctor’s 6,27 times) and also showed […]

Diagnosis of the situation of pre-natal services in the area of the 5th Administrative Region of the State of São Paulo was undertaken. The model built by CIARI et al and some items of quantitative evaluation to analyse these services were used and the general conlusion was the maternal health attention situation was bad. An increase in the cost benefit relation was shown. The items concerning money inversion were satisfactory but the service performance was not suitable due to lack […]

The mortality of the female population in the county of Ribeirão Preto (S. Paulo State, Brazil), by determining the female mortality specific rates by age groups and the death causes in the age group of 15 to 49 years was studied. The results of 1960 and 1970 Demographic Census were used in the estimation of 1971 to 1974 population. The informations on deaths of the residents were taken from the Demographic-Sanitary Maps of the Regional Health Division of Ribeirão Preto. […]

OBJECTIVE: To assess antenatal care in health care units, so as to obtain a baseline for future evaluation studies. METHODS: A self-applied inquiry was conducted among municipal health managers within a probabilistic stratified random sample of 627 municipalities which, through expansion technique, extended the analysis to 5,507 municipalities. Data was collected from October 2003 to April 2004. The survey appraised information about the priority granted by the managers to each modality of care, as well as data concerning characteristics of […]

The social determinants of maternal-child health in American countries are discussed on the basis of the analysis of several papers and official recommendation. Many of these studies do not place due emphasis on social factors. Indeed, social factors are frequently put on the same level as biological ones. Therefore, the resulting understanding is distorted. Conclusions and recommendations from such studies should be accepted with some caution since they do not get to the root of the problems. Different social variables […]

Brazilian maternal mortality is studied on the basis of official statistics from the country’s various geographical regions, including especially the State of S. Paulo (Brazil). 1980 was chosen because of the possibility of working with data from the Population Census of that year. The principal causes of death in Brazil were found to be, in the following order: hypertensive states, haemorrhage, puerperal infections and abortion. In S. Paulo, where the fourth digit of the IDC is used, the first cause […]