High maternal mortality rates in Brazil: Inequalities and the struggle for justice
Damiao Soares Tenorio, Aloisio Gomes de Matos Brasil, Brenda Gomes Nogueira, Nádia Nara Rolim Lima, Jaime Emanuel Brito Araújo, Modesto Leite Rolim Neto
Abstract
In recent years, Brazil has had a considerable increase in maternal mortality, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Before COVID, in 2019, the maternal death ratio was 57, and in 2020 it increased to 67. In 2021 there were 107 deaths per 100,000 births, with more than 1500 deaths attributable to COVID-19. The difficulties encountered in Brazil are due to several factors but mainly to the lack of resources and attention,1,2 leading to many preventable deaths. These are situations that could have been identified during prenatal care, and, especially, in the moments close to birth; those conditions were probably not identified and addressed in a timely manner.