Prenatal evaluation in primary care in Northeast Brazil: factors associated with its adequacy

Quality assessment of prenatal and puerperium care

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate prenatal and puerperium care levels received and identify their association with sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted from May to December 2020 and included women who gave birth at the Municipal Hospital of Fazenda Rio Grande, Paraná, Brazil. Data were collected through interviews and review of portfolios and medical records. The variables extracted from the prenatal protocols of Paraná and the Ministry of Health were grouped into five compliance indices: CI1 - clinical examination; CI2 - health education; CI3 - queries; CI4 - examinations and vaccines; and CI5 - postpartum appointments. Prenatal care was considered adequate when 80% or more adequacy was obtained.

RESULTS

A total of 307 women participated in this study. Prenatal compliance was 16.6% considering the entire set of variables. The best performance was for CI4 (54.7%) and the worst for CI5 (13.3%). The lowest adequacy occurred among single women (10.9%) compared to those who lived with a partner (19.9%) (p=0.043) and among women with black/brown skin color (9.5%) compared to those with white/yellow skin color (20.3%) (p=0.016).

CONCLUSION

Most women did not receive adequate care, with those in situations of greater social vulnerability received worse quality care.

The place of prenatal visits in pregnancy care: Should we reconsider the current approach?

A well-conducted prenatal visit remains of paramount importance because it allows the preservation of mother and child health by reducing the rates of morbidity and mortality for them. However, the quality of prenatal visits remains a serious problem in our environment, and a new approach is urgently needed to improve the quality of prenatal visits in our environment.

Prenatal care and human rights: Addressing the gap between medical and legal frameworks and the experience of women in Brazil

Access to quality and affordable healthcare is central to the fulfilment of women's reproductive and sexual health needs and rights. For this reason, the World Health Organization declared access to appropriate healthcare services during pregnancy and childbirth a fundamental women's right. Prenatal care is a recognized human right to women's health in Brazil, as declared by the 1988 Constitution and many Brazilian policies. However, implementing the rights to health in Brazil presents a fundamental performance gap between legal rights and their delivery concerning reproductive health. Through extensive fieldwork including focus groups, interviews with women and participate observation in two municipalities in northeastern Brazil, this article addresses these issues and explores women's lived experience of access to and their fulfilment of the right to health regarding prenatal healthcare. We offer and account of the experience of women regarding what they identified as barriers that trample their right to health, that is: a) limited personnel and medical equipment as a perception of neglect; b) timely delivery of services: time matters for perception and experience of rights; c) misinformation as a barrier to the exercise of health rights; and d) socioeconomic barriers. These barriers particularly affect the right of women in rural communities, with lower socioeconomic levels and education, as well as brown and black women, from an intersectionality perspective, who are already at greater health risk and inadequate prenatal care. As such, we argue there is a performance gap between what the normative and legal frameworks encourage the health system to do and what the system actually provides in terms of access, equality, respect and continuity of treatment amongst certain groups in society whose right to health are denied while their health risks increase.

Network care: relationship between prenatal care adequacy and hospital obstetric care in a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the relationship between prenatal care adequacy and the demand for hospital obstetric care.

METHOD

A cross-sectional, quantitative study, conducted in a Brazilian capital, at six basic units and a hospital unit, from 2017 to 2020. Pregnant women who met the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria participated in the study. Data were collected by structured questionnaire, and follow-up of participants was in person, by phone and by application. Descriptive and analytical statistics were performed using a statistical program.

RESULTS

A total of 224 women were investigated. Prenatal care was adequate in 42.4% of cases, and the mean percentage of adequacy was 76.7% of assessed indicators. Of the 1,067 hospital visits, 63.1% were inopportune. The regression model showed that the variable "prenatal care adequacy" was statistically relevant (0.043), with a 2.2 times higher Odds Ratio (OR) of women who had inadequate prenatal follow-up seeking the hospital inanely.

CONCLUSION

Prenatal care inadequacy was related to the inopportune search for emergency room care, with care overload for this point in the care network.

Cuidado em rede: relação entre a adequação pré-natal e os atendimentos obstétricos hospitalares em um estudo transversal

RESUMO Objetivo: Avaliar a relação entre a adequação do pré-natal e a demanda de atendimentos obstétricos hospitalares. Método: Estudo transversal, quantitativo, conduzido em uma capital brasileira, em seis unidades básicas e uma unidade hospitalar, de 2017 a 2020. Participaram gestantes que atenderam aos critérios de inclusão e exclusão pré-definidos. Os dados foram coletados por questionário estruturado e o seguimento das participantes foi presencial, telefônico e por aplicativo. Procedeu-se à estatística descritiva e analítica, utilizando um programa estatístico. Resultados: Foram investigadas 224 mulheres. O pré-natal foi adequado em 42,4% dos casos, e o percentual médio de adequação foi de 76,7% dos indicadores avaliados. Dos 1.067 atendimentos hospitalares, 63,1% foram inoportunos. O modelo de regressão mostrou que a variável “adequação do pré-natal” foi estatisticamente relevante (p 0,043), com razão de chance (OR) 2,2 vezes maior de as mulheres que tiveram um acompanhamento pré-natal inadequado buscarem o hospital de forma inoportuna. Conclusão: A inadequação do pré-natal teve relação com a procura inoportuna por atendimentos em pronto-socorro, com sobrecarga assistencial para este ponto na rede de cuidado.

Adequacy of Prenatal Care in Northeast Brazil: Pilot Data Comparing Attainment of Standard Care Criteria for First-Time Adolescent and Adult Pregnant Women

Background

Adolescent pregnancy is a public health concern worldwide, particularly in low-income settings. Adolescent mothers face higher risks during pregnancy and delivery compared to adult mothers and yet, may also experience worse quality of obstetrical care. This study evaluates adherence to meeting Brazilian recommendations for prenatal care by comparing first-time adolescent versus adult mothers in a rural, low-income setting.

Methods

Using data from the Adolescence and Motherhood Research (AMOR) project, we evaluated adherence to national recommendations as documented in the prenatal cards of 39 adolescents (13-18 years) and 37 adults (23-28 years) from a low-income area in northeast Brazil. Recommendations included ≥6 prenatal consultations, gestational age ≤12 weeks at the first visit, participation in 3 educational activities, 2 serology for syphilis (VDRL) and HIV, 1 Toxoplasmosis serology, 2 urine tests, 2 blood glucose and 2 hemoglobin/hematocrit (Hb/Ht) exams. Chi-square tests were used to compare the proportions of adolescents and adults with a record of these procedures in the prenatal cards.

Results

Compared to adult women, the adolescent group had lower attainment of almost all recommended components of prenatal care compared to the adult group, with statistically significant differences for 2 blood glucose tests (46.2% vs 78.4%; p=0.004), 2 VDRL tests (30.8% vs 54.1%; p=0.040), 2 Hb/Ht exams (35.9% vs 83.8%; p<0.001), and at least 6 consultations (84.6% vs 100%; p=0.013).

Conclusion

Despite greater health risks of adolescent fertility, the prenatal cards of adolescent mothers presented a poorer record of adherence to recommendations for adequate prenatal care compared to adult mothers from a low-income setting of Brazil. Health policies for both health professionals and the target population are needed to ensure adequacy of prenatal care and appropriate risk reduction for this vulnerable population.