Fatores de risco e causas associadas: uma revisão de literatura

Abstract

Introduction: Maternal death is defined as the death of a woman that occurs during pregnancy or within a period of 42 days after the end of it. In Brazil, there were 20,229 maternal deaths in the period 2006 to 2017, with a maternal mortality ratio of 62.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, in this interval. Objective: To identify and describe the main causes of maternal deaths. Method: This is a narrative literature review. The 10 most specific scientific articles with the objectives proposed by the research were selected for the study. The other articles were excluded as they did not meet the main objective of the research. Results: The risk factors associated with maternal deaths are: extreme age, under 15 years old and over 35 years old, black and brown women, low schooling, low family income, marital status, difficulty in accessing the health service, obesity and previous reproductive history. Health professionals need to know the epidemiological and obstetric profile of pregnant women, for early identification of risk factors that lead to maternal death. The causes of maternal deaths are mostly preventable, with the introduction and implementation of low-cost policies, relatively simple behaviors, which, because they require low technology, are neglected and marked as insignificant .(NOGUEIRA; OLIVEIRA, 2017). Conclusion: The main causes of maternal deaths are pregnancy-specific hypertensive syndromes, hemorrhages, sepsis and abortion. This fact highlights the importance of investments in prenatal care, reception of pregnant women and management of diseases.