FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LATE PRENATAL CARE: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

This article sought to describe the factors associated with late prenatal care and its consequences. These difficulties arise from a variety of factors, including socioeconomic, cultural, and structural barriers, compromising the quality of maternal and childcare for these women. Late prenatal initiation leads to several unfavorable factors for the pregnant woman, thus predisposing her to pathologies and gestational complications such as congenital syphilis, neonatal death, and prematurity. However, in addition to these complications resulting in high neonatal death rates, it also impairs psychological preparation for childbirth, inhibiting the proper development of the fetal organism, requiring specialized care in the municipalities. The results indicate that regarding the characteristics of the pregnant women, most were between (<19 years, 20 to 29 years, 30 to 39 years, 40 to 49 years, ≥50 years) (44.2%). According to the Ministry of Health, in 2020 alone, more than 13.4 million babies were born prematurely worldwide, representing more than 10% of all babies born in previous years. During this period, data from Brazil show that most premature babies were male (52.8%), brown (54.2%), and weighing between 2,500 grams or slightly more (54.7%).