Perinatal health Archives - Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

PURPOSE: to evaluate the experience of implementation of the Brazilian Prenatal and Birth Humanization Program (PHPN) in 2001 and 2002, through a population descriptive study. METHODS: the study was performed through documental analysis and using data generated by SISPRENATAL, comparatively evaluating the indicators concerning criteria for prenatal follow-up in different states, regions and period. RESULTS: until the end of 2002, 3983 municipalities joined the Program (72% adhesion) and, among them, 71% reported results, constituting a data base of 720,871 women. In 2002 only 28% of the pregnant women were already registered, 25% before 120 days of pregnancy. Nearly 22% of the women had six prenatal visits, 6% had the post-partum visit and the compulsory tests performed, only 4% had also the HIV test and were vaccinated against tetanus, and 12% had two examinations performed for syphilis. There were important regional variations, generally showing better indicators for the Southeast and South regions. CONCLUSIONS: although the indicators of quality of care showed an improvement from 2001 to 2002, the recorded low percentages attest the need for permanent evaluations and new interventions with the aim of improving the quality of this care, especially in the North and Northeast regions.