Pediatric prenatal visit: A integrative review

Abstract

In the face of changes in the living standards of contemporary societies in recent decades, the scientific community delves into the search for risk factors for the increase of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs), even with improvements in medical care. Individual and collective health is constantly influenced, with one of the drawbacks being the transition from mortality caused by communicable diseases to NCDs. Accounting for 76% of total deaths in Brazil, NCDs require a deeper look to enhance maternal and child health care, starting from prenatal pediatric consultations as a mechanism to mitigate the delayed effects of fetal epigenetic changes caused by gestational complications. These complications are part of the spectrum of NCDs in adulthood. The implementation of prenatal pediatric consultations is linked to breaking the transgenerational effects of epigenetics to improve the health conditions of the mother-child pair, especially in primary prevention. Currently labeled as a "pregnancy course," it is conducted without due recognition of its importance, intermittently subject to changes in administrations, and lacking the regular presence of a pediatrician, thus losing the emotionally timely bond for improving maternal habits. Objective: Gather the most recent literary evidence on prenatal pediatric consultations and their implications for maternal and child health. Method: This study is based on an integrative literature review, structured through the use of search platforms such as SCIELO, BVS and PUBMED, as well as journals from the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP) and the books "Pediatrics Treatise" and "The Prenatal Pediatric Consultation." The keywords used were "pediatric prenatal visit", “prenatal care” and “pediatrics”, with inclusion criteria being scientific articles in Portuguese, English, and Spanish published in the last 10 years. Results: Positive influences of prenatal pediatric consultations on the health of both the pregnant woman and the baby were observed, with benefits extending into childhood and adulthood. The consultations strengthened the doctor-patient bond, improved breastfeeding rates, and provided short- and long-term benefits to the mother-child pair. However, there is a lack of formal and systematic recognition of this action in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), which serves 70% of pregnant women. Prenatal pediatric consultations (CPPN) are poorly recognized by obstetricians, pediatricians, and users, hindering Brazilian data on the benefits of this health promotion tool.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.56238/sevened2023.007-070