Prenatal and perinatal care in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais state, Brazil

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/fm.2022.35608

Keywords:

Childbirth. Humanizing childbirth. Perinatal care. Pregnancy. Prenatal Care.

Abstract

Introduction: Prenatal care and the procedures adopted during childbirth are essential to ensure a healthy pregnancy and delivery and prevent complications, without affecting the health of the mother and newborn. Objective: To analyze the prenatal and perinatal care provided in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and to determine whether there is an association between adequate prenatal care and socioeconomic, demographic, behavioral and reproductive factors. Methods: Cross-sectional study with a pre-existing database. The adequacy of prenatal care was analyzed based on three criteria: 1) onset up to the 16th week and a minimum number of checkups according to gestational age; 2) professional practices during prenatal checkups; 3) counseling given to the pregnant women by healthcare professionals. Multivariate logistic regression was used for data analysis. Results: Participants were 437 postpartum women. Prenatal care was considered adequate for 72.5, 93.1 and 50.1% of the participants based on criteria 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The pregnant women who were most likely to receive inadequate prenatal care in relation to criterion 1 were those with the lowest schooling level (OR = 1.68; p = 0.046), who were single (OR = 2.18;
p = 0.002), did not work during their pregnancy (OR = 2.18; p = 0.003) and whose pregnancy was unplanned (OR = 1.76; p = 0.023). With respect to perinatal care, the presence of a birth companion and skin-to-skin contact were adequate, but breastfeeding in the first hour of life was not. Conclusion: There is a need to improve the counseling provided by healthcare professionals and include breastfeeding in the first hour of life. The results could contribute to optimizing maternal and child health services in Governador Valadares.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Érica Cesário Defilipo, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF)

Physiotherapy Department, Life Sciences Institute

Paula Silva de Carvalho Chagas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF)

School of Physiotherapy, Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences and Physical-Functional Performance

Mariana Cristina Palermo Ferreira, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF)

Physiotherapy Department, Life Sciences Institute

Luiz Cláudio Ribeiro, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF)

Department of Statistics, Graduate Program in Collective Health

Published

2022-09-16

Most read articles by the same author(s)