SPACE-TIME INVESTIGATION RELATED TO MATERNAL MORTALITY IN BRAZIL

Abstract

Introduction: Maternal Mortality (MM) is defined as death that occurs in the gestational period or up to 42 days after pregnancy and can be classified as direct or indirect obstetric cause. Objective: To conduct a space-time investigation of maternal deaths due to direct cause, identifying the main causes and mapping the profile of women victimized in order to awaken in health professionals a critical view about the quality of care. Methodology: It consists of an epidemiological study, of the ecological, descriptive type, carried out from data from the Department of Analysis and Tabulations of Data of the Unified Health System (DATASUS) referring to cases of maternal deaths that occurred between the years 2015 and 2019 in Brazil. Results: From the data obtained, it was possible to identify that MM due to direct obstetric causes are the most prevalent (66.9%), the three main preventable causes in Brazil are hypertensive disorders (preeclampsia and eclampsia) and postpartum hemorrhage, while the regions with the highest number of cases of maternal deaths were the southeast (35%) and northeast (33%). In addition, the profile of affected women is: age group from 20 to 39 years, brown, single and with a level of education from 8 to 11 years. Conclusion: Avoidable causes account for more than half of the number of deaths recorded, consisting of an alarming data, since they are preventable during prenatal care. Intervention is necessary through effective measures that emphasize the promotion and prevention of these diseases during gestational care.