THE MAIN RISK FACTORS THAT RELATE TO NEWBORN MORTALITY IN A NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

Abstract

Neonatal mortality has been high in Brazil since the 19990s. The identification of risk factor associated with neonatal hospitalization and mortality has become important for researchers. The aim of this study was to know the predisposing factors of neonatal mortality as a subsidy to structure care and direct actions according to the specificities and priorities of this group. A search for scientific articles was carried out in March and April 2021 in the platforms Pubmed, BVS, Medline and Scielo with Descriptors in Health Science: “Risk Fators AND Neonatal Mortality AND Neonatal Intensive Care Units” in Portuguese and English. 20 scientific articles were selected after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The main risk factors for neonatal mortality were male gender, low birth weight, low birth apgar, congenital anomalies, respiratory distress syndrome and infections. Studies show that there was an increase in statistics on deaths in newborns weighing less than 2.000 grams and the decline in mortality from low birth weight is related to good prenatal care. Children with congenital malformations had a higher incidence of death compared to those who did not have it. These risk factors are considered avoidable and therefore, it is important that health professionals carry out health education to improve access to prenatal care in order to reduce risks and changes in pregnancies, preventing premature births and complications, thus reducing neonatal mortality.