Clinical complications during pregnancy: a systematic review of studies with pregnant Brazilian women

The scope of this paper was to describe the main clinical complications among pregnant Brazilian women reported in the literature, identifying the most relevant exposure factors and their outcomes in maternal and child health. This is a systematic review of articles published between 2010 and 2018. Three reviews and 36 empirical articles were included; mental disorders (n=9), infectious diseases (n=9) and severe maternal morbidity (n=8) were the main clinical complications during pregnancy. In addition, four articles focused on determining the main conditions or causes of hospitalization, with a higher frequency of Urinary Tract Infection, anemia and hypertensive diseases. Maternal age at reproductive extremes, lower schooling, socioeconomic vulnerability, racial characteristics and the use of public health services were the most relevant exposure factors. Unfavorable health outcomes associated with clinical complications in pregnancy were verified in the eight articles with this profile. The frequency of pregnant women with potential life-threatening clinical complications is high in the country, highlighting the importance of primary care coverage and the implementation of interventions to reduce and prevent adverse maternal and child outcomes.