Infant mortality by mother’s characteristics and pregnancy in the city of Santa Maria, RS

Abstract

Objective: To examine infant mortality according to characteristics of the mother, pregnancy and birth weight in the city of Santa Maria, RS. Methods: A descriptive quantitative research. Information was collected on the website of the Ministry of Health, the database of the Department of the Unified Health System-DATASUS in the period 2000 to 2008. Results: it showed a higher prevalence of mortality in children with birth weights between 500 and 999g, and the mothers had education below the seven years between the ages of 15 and 24. In relation to pregnancy, the period in which the greatest number of deaths was between 32 and 41 weeks, the incidence of cesarean section. Conclusion: Further studies were recommended relating the findings with other risk factors, such as consultation and whether or not prenatal, maternal nutrition, number of pregnancies, in order to determine a reliable diagnosis of infant mortality in the municipality