IMPACT OF THE NURSE ON THE CARE OF PREGNANT WOMEN IN THE PRISON SYSTEM

Abstract

This article analyzes the challenges faced by nursing professionals in prenatal care for pregnant women deprived of liberty in the Brazilian prison system, emphasizing how structural, organizational, and healthcare weaknesses affect the quality of maternal and child care. The study aimed to investigate the role of nursing in prenatal care for incarcerated women, considering the ethical, legal, and institutional aspects related to healthcare within the prison environment. This is an integrative literature review with a qualitative approach, conducted through a bibliographic survey in the SciELO, LILACS, Virtual Health Library (VHL), and Google Scholar databases, including publications from 2021 to 2025. DeCS/MeSH descriptors combined with Boolean operators were used to select the studies. The analysis revealed that the main difficulties faced by nursing professionals are related to poor prison infrastructure, lack of human resources, limited access to healthcare services, and the absence of specific protocols for obstetric care in prisons. It was also observed that nursing plays a fundamental role in promoting comprehensive and humanized care, as well as ensuring the rights of pregnant women deprived of liberty. Therefore, prenatal care in the prison system must be strengthened through the improvement of public policies, integration with the Unified Health System, and continuous training of nursing professionals in order to reduce vulnerabilities and ensure safer and more humanized maternal and child care.