Objectives:
to describe the adequacy of healthcare among women undergoing prenatal and/or childbirth care in the Brazilian National Health System, SUS, in municipalities that have been earmarked for reduction of infant mortality in Amazonia Legal and the Northeast Region.
Methods:
secondary data from a populationbased survey involving mothers and children aged under one year of age attended by the 2010 vaccination campaign were analyzed. The sample under study comprised 13.205 women who had received prenatal care and 13,044 whose deliveries had been accompanied, in 252 earmarked municipalities. The adequacy of prenatal and childbirth care was classified according to process indicators proposed by the National Program for the Humanization of Prenatal Care and Childbirth.
Results:
of the women studied, 75.4% had attended six or more prenatal consults, but only 3.4% had access to prenatal care classified as adequate. Access to ultrasound was reported by 96.1% of the women, an HIV exam by 91.8% and a syphilis test by 68.7%. Only 44.2% of the women were told which maternity hospital they should give birth in and only 8.6% were in fact admitted to the recommended facility. Childbirth care was considered adequate for only 1% of those interviewed. The results varied from one State to another and according to the socioeconomic status of the women.
Conclusions:
shortcomings were identified in prenatal and childbirth care, which is inadequate and socially unjust in these regions, thereby contributing to poor indicators for maternal and child health in Legal Amazonia and the Northeast Region of Brazil.
Prenatal care; Maternal welfare; Health services accessibility; Quality of health Care; Maternal mortality