Trends in neonatal mortality in Brazil from 2007 to 2017

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the trends in neonatal mortality in Brazil from 2007 to 2017. This is an ecological time series study carried out with data from the Mortality Information System and the Information System on Live Births, analyzed through of Prais-Winsten regression. There was an average neonatal mortality rate of 9.46 deaths/1,000 live births in the analyzed period, with a reduction of 2.15% per year. There was a greater decline in early neonatal mortality compared to late neonatal mortality. There was an upward trend of neonatal deaths among preterm infants, newborns with extremely low birth weight, born by cesarean delivery, children of mothers over 30 years of age and of mothers with more than eight years of schooling. Regarding the causes of death, there was an increasing trend of deaths due to congenital malformations, infectious diseases, endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases and external causes. Still, there was an upward trend in preventable deaths by adequate care for women during pregnancy and for other causes that are not clearly preventable. Despite the general reduction in deaths, it is necessary to intensify public policies for adequate care for women during pregnancy to ensure improvement in the other indicators analyzed.