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Three Decades of Prenatal Care in Brazil: Temporal Trends in the Ratio of Prenatal Consultations to Live Births (1994–2024)

Márcio Cristiano DE MELO, Iasser ALI MAHMOUD AYOUB, Cezanne DE ALMEIDA E BARBOSA, Hugo FERREIRA RODRIGUES, Elizabandh Regina DE MELO CABRAL, Naila Albertina DE OLIVEIRA, Jucilene CASATI LODI, Lia Maristela DA SILVA JACOB, Herla Maria F FURTADO JORGE and Ana Carine ARRUDA ROLIM

Prenatal care is a central strategy for reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality, and Brazil has undergone major structural and demographic changes in the last three decades, including declining fertility, reduced numbers of live births, and persistent regional inequalities in access and quality of prenatal care. The ratio between the number of prenatal consultations and live births represents a synthetic indicator of gestational follow-up intensity and is sensitive to changes in system organization, primary care expansion, financing, and socioeconomic disparities.