OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of the surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus among pregnant women assisted by the Prenatal Program of the Municipal Health Department of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, and to evaluate immediate post-delivery care to the newborn babies of positive mothers. METHODS: A descriptive study was carried out with 5,191 pregnant women in routine prenatal care, using data of the Clinical Pathology Municipal Laboratory of Ribeirão Preto. Pregnant women found to be HBsAg carriers had their deliveries evaluated according to the recommended hepatitis B immunoprophylaxis procedures for newborn babies. RESULTS: An overall prevalence of 0.5% (CI 95%: 0.3 - 0.7) of HBsAg carriers was found. In 66.6% of deliveries the recommended immunoprophylaxis procedures were adequately performed. Partial adequacy was observed in 25.0% of babies; in 8.4% it was not possible to assess the quality of procedures. CONCLUSIONS: The group of pregnant women studied showed a low endemicity of the hepatitis B virus. Although it included 100% of the pregnant women enrolled, hepatitis B screening has not provided ideal care to newborn babies when it comes to prevention of the vertical transmission of the disease.
Hepatitis B; Pregnant women; Prevalence; Immunoprophylaxis; Assessment of health programs
