Prenatal care among adolescent women in the extreme South of Brazil: a secular trend study.

Abstract

This study aims to measure prevalence and evaluate trends for a set of indicators of prenatal care among pregnant adolescents in Rio Grande, Southern Brazil. Between 01/01 and 31/12 of the years 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019, was applied a standardized questionnaire in the maternity ward to all parturient women residing in this municipality who had children in the local hospitals. Chi-square test was used to compare proportions and assess trends. Among the 12,645 pregnant women identified, 2,184 (17.3%) were adolescents (<20 years). Of the 36 indicators evaluated, there was a worsening in 2 (pregnancy planning and occurrence of diabetes mellitus), stability in 5 (abdominal ultrasound, immunization against tetanus, possession of the pregnancy card and occurrence of low birth weight and prematurity) and improvement in 29, with emphasis on the reduction in the occurrence of teenage pregnancy, maternal education, clinical and laboratory examinations and adequate prenatal care, rising from 13.8% in 2007 to 52.5% in 2019. There was a substantial improvement in pregnancy and childbirth care, but almost half of the adolescents in the municipality were unable to receive adequate prenatal care, at the same time as the occurrence of unplanned pregnancies increased.