Resumo

DE LIMA TRINDADE, Letícia et al. Risk factors for fetal death in the city of Pato Branco (Brazil). Invest. educ. enferm [online]. 2011, vol.29, n.3, pp. 451-458. ISSN 0120-5307.

Objective. To describe risk factors for fetal mortality in the city of Pato Branco (Brazil). Methodology. Descriptive study. Cases of babies born dead in the city of Pato Branco from 2000 to 2008 were analyzed. The information was obtained from the Mortality Information System. Results. 91 fetal deaths were registered in the studied period, for a mean rate of 9.27 per thousand born alive. The main risk factors originated from the mother were: placenta previa (38.5%), pregnancy induced hypertension (38.5%), age under 20 years or over 30 years of age (40.7%), having three or less years of school (25.7%) and being a housewife (34.1%). For the fetus, the only risk factor registered was the sex, in which 52.7% of deaths were males. Conclusion. Some preventable risk factors were identified; it is necessary to intervene them to reduce fetal mortality in the city.

Palavras-chave : prenatal care; stillbirth; placenta previa; risk factors; pregnant women.