Late prenatal care: motives and coping interventions in Primary Health Care.

Abstract

Pregnancy is a remarkable experience in a woman's life. It is a period in which great levels of uncertainty, anxiety, fear, insecurity and expectation are present. Although it is a physiological process, it is surrounded by cultural, social and emotional values. Objective: To recognize the factors that lead pregnant women to start late prenatal care. Materials and Methods: This is a narrative review of the literature, based on the Virtual Health Library and its Lilacs and Medline indexes from 2012 to 2022, with the descriptors "prenatal", "late", " precocious” and “primary health care”, in a combined way, being selected the works that dealt with the reasons that led pregnant women not to start prenatal care early. Results and discussion: Five works were found in these databases that met the research criteria. The data obtained in the studies surveyed show some conditions that may be related to the late start of prenatal care. The factors associated with the late start of prenatal care were: attendance by Basic Health Units instead of Family Health Units; skin color, income, education and the refusal or delay in scheduling exams. Conclusion: The economic condition is one of the factors that influence the late start of prenatal care, making women living in unfavorable situations of fragility and depending on the government to perform prenatal care have a greater risk of having complications during pregnancy. This fact highlights the importance of medical appointments in high-quality health units, preferably linked to the Family Health Strategy, ensuring safe prenatal care.