Related Experiment Videos
[Prenatal care, low birth weight and prematurity in São Paulo State, Brazil, 2000]
Samuel Kilsztajn1, Anacláudia Rossbach, Manuela Santos Nunes do Carmo
1Laboratorio de Economia Social do Programa de Estudos Pós-Graduados em Economia Política da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil. skil@pucsp.br
Insights
More prenatal visits are linked to lower rates of low birth weight and prematurity in São Paulo. Increasing access to prenatal care for at-risk mothers can reduce infant mortality and perinatal deaths.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Perinatal Medicine
- Epidemiology
Context:
- Infant mortality and neonatal mortality trends in São Paulo.
- Analysis of birth weight and gestational term impacts on mortality.
- Investigating the influence of prenatal care on infant outcomes.
Purpose:
- To assess the role of prenatal visit frequency in determining infant and neonatal mortality.
- To analyze historical trends in mortality rates based on birth weight and delivery term.
- To identify factors influencing low birth weight and prematurity.
Summary:
- Data from the Seade Institute of Vital Statistics were analyzed, considering maternal age, marital status, education, and childbirth order.
- Sixteen distinct groups were formed to examine the relationship between these factors and the prevalence of low birth weight/preterm birth.
- A significant inverse correlation was found: more prenatal visits correlated with lower prevalence of low birth weight and prematurity across all analyzed groups.
Impact:
- Increased prenatal visits showed a reduction in the disparity of low birth weight/preterm prevalence among different risk groups.
- Enhancing prenatal visit frequency and accessibility for high-risk women is projected to decrease intrauterine growth retardation, prematurity, and related perinatal deaths.
- This study underscores the critical role of accessible, comprehensive prenatal care in mitigating infant mortality in São Paulo.
Objective:
The historical evolution of infant mortality rate and neonatal mortality according to birth weight and term of delivery in the state of S o Paulo are presented to assess the role of the number of prenatal visits and others factors for determining mortality.
Methods:
Based on data available from the Seade Institute of Vital Statistics, four variables (maternal age, marital status, education, and childbirth order) were analyzed and divided into two categories according to the relative risk of low birth weight and/or preterm prevalence. Sixteen specific groups were created from crossing the four variables into two categories. Low birth weight and/or preterm prevalence per number of prenatal visits and the relative risk were calculated for all sixteen groups.
Results:
For all sixteen groups, the higher the number of prenatal visits the lower the prevalence of low birth weight and/or prematurity. Additionally, there was an overall reduction of the difference of low birth weight and/or preterm prevalence among the 16 groups from 14% to 4% with an increase from 0-3 to 7 visits or more.
Conclusions:
Due to the current infant mortality composition in the state of Sao Paulo, increasing the number of prenatal visits and accessibility of women at risk would probably lead to a reduction in intrauterine growth retardation, prematurity, low birth weight and deaths associated to conditions originated in the perinatal period.