Author(s)

Isabelle Christine Fonsêca G. A. Silva¹, Tainara Lôrena dos Santos Ferreira¹, Dídia de Oliveira Pereira¹, Joymara Railma Gomes de Assunção¹, Paloma Batista Costa¹, Jovanka Bittencourt Leite de Carvalho², Iris do Ceu Clara Costa³, Fábia Barbosa de Andrade^1*

¹Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences of Trairi (FACISA), Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Santa Cruz, Brazil.
²Department of Nursing, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil.
³Department of Dentistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil.

Objective: This study aims at assessing maternal and child care provided from prenatal to birth, so that it can reveal the weaknesses and potentialities of prenatal program in order to guide the development of strategic plans. Methods: This is an exploratory descriptive study with a quantitative approach, conducted in the city of Santa Cruz, state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, from November 2012 to February 2013. The sample consisted of 200 women, chosen by draw, mothers of children under two years old who had attended the Primary Health Care System. The study used a semi-structured questionnaire used by the Ministry of Health. Our research project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, under the approval No. 311.613. Results: It was found that most mothers were rated from good to very good in the quality of care during prenatal and birth. As to the performance of prenatal and birth care services, most women performed those services under the municipality’s Public Health System, and the prenatal care primarily under Basic Health Care Units. Conclusion: In this assessment study, indicators regarding maternal and child care provided during the prenatal period were found to be positive, which contributes to the reduction of maternal and child mortality. The study also shows that Primary Health Care is essential to ensuring an effective, humane and comprehensive health care.

Primary Health Care, Health Assessment, Nursing

Silva, I. , dos Santos Ferreira, T. , de Oliveira Pereira, D. , de Assunção, J. , Costa, P. , de Carvalho, J. , do Ceu Clara Costa, I. and de Andrade, F. (2015) Maternal and Child Care Assessment Focused on Prenatal Care and Birth. Health, 7, 167-173. doi: 10.4236/health.2015.71019.