QUALITY OF BIRTH AND IMPACT ON CHILD HEALTH INDICATORS

Abstract

Introduction: The  quality  of  delivery  care  indicates  an  important  factor  in  the  infant mortality rates, since the problems arising from it, when performed in an inappropriate way, can have repercussion on the newborn during the first days of life. Objective: To evaluate  the  quality  of  childbirth  care  and  the  correlation  with  child  health  indicators. Methods: This is  a  quantitative  and  evaluative  study  of  the indicators  of  maternal  and infant  morbidity  and  mortality  carried  out  at  the  Basic  Health  Units  that  integrate  the Primary Health Care (PHC) network of the municipality of Santa Cruz, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. With a sample of 200 women mothers of children under two years. Results: Mothers with a mean age of 28.17 years were interviewed, with infants with a mean of 10.42  months  of  age.  95.5%  of  the  mothers  reported  having  had  prenatal  care.  The majority (60.5%) of the women classified care received at delivery as good; 74.5% stated that the child was placed in the breast after delivery; 90% of the mother-baby binomials are  together in  the  fourth  postpartum. Conclusions: It  can  be  noticed  that  the delivery assistance takes place adequately and satisfactorily, meeting the needs of the majority of the interviewees. However, there is still a need for awareness and qualification of health professionals,  so  that  undesirable  situations  in  maternal  and  child  health  do  not  occur and the rates of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality decrease