The neonatal death constitutes the major component of the infant mortality (MI) in Brazil, having the asphyxia, the low birthweight, the newborn respiratory affection, the infection and prematurity as the main causes. These situations connect to the prevention failures so the wide determinant network of these obits need to be recognized from available data by national systems of information. A good system covering, agility and reliable information collection in all the levels and the flow information control, assure the validity of the produced indicators, allowing the choice of the best preventive approach. This article presents the several research sources in neonatal obits, their uses and limitations, stooding out the health area professionals contribution of reliable information production. A review on this issue in health ministry technical manuals, theses, dissertations and books, as well as in the electronic data bases Medline, LILACS, SCIELO and PAHO was carried out. Aricles published from 1980 thru 2004, with the following key-words, were included: "infantile mortality", "neonatal mortality", "precocious neonatal mortality", "basic cause of death", "information systems", "information in health", "medical registers", "mortality registers".
Infant mortality; Death certificates; Information systems; Medical records