Collecting data on deliveries, newborn and mothers, in maternity-hospitals, is the best way to conduct research into perinatal morbidity and mortality. The kind of study which was carried out in nine Brazilian maternity-hospitals, seven of then situated in cities in the State of S. Paulo, one in Rio de Janeiro and another in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, is described. The study called for the collection of data on 13,130 deliveries, of which 12,782 were live births, 217 still-births and 131 abortions. This is the first of a series of papers; the aims of this one are to describe the project and to present some general results; however, more specific results will be presented in the future. The high perinatal mortality rate, the high proportion of cesarian sections and the several times greater incidence of low birth-weight in still-births as compared with live births, deserved particular attention.
Infant mortality; Fetal death; Morbidity; Hospitals, special