Brazilian economy nowadays shows that what is most important is for every sector to carefully plan, instead of merely spending finite financial resources. Thus, the adequate application of each health budget item has been one of the main goals of health planners and managers. This study aims to present a methodology for the appropriation of production costs in health care to low-risk pregnant women. It also intends to give the basis to the construction of a cost-evaluation methodology that can be used for both research and health planning. This appropriation was based on the scenario of the Family Health in São Paulo, Brazil. As the Brazilian Unified Health System has a universal covering perspective, the accurate estimate of production costs can contribute to the budget formulation and to the resources programming which seems essential to guarantee the quality of health assistance.
Costs allocation; Health planning; Prenatal care; Cost-benefits analyses
