Maternal near miss in an obstetric intensive care unit

The Pregnancy is a phenomenon of physiological, physical, social and emotional changes. However, obstetric complications may occur, which if not timely treated and/or if incorrectly managed, can evolve in severe manners, requiring hospitalization at Obstetric Intensive Care Unit. In this scenario, maternal near miss can occur, defined as a near-death experience of woman who survived a serious complication occurring during pregnancy, delivery or within 42 hours after pregnancy ends. The objective of this study was to analyze the women profiles during pregnancy-puerperal cycle, who did or did not evolved with maternal near miss, admitted in an obstetric intensive care unit at FundaçãoSanta Casa de Misericórdia do Pará. This is an exploratory-descriptive research, with retrospective and quantitative approach covering the period from July 2016 to June 2017. 111 medical records of women admitted in the Unit at the said Foundation were used. It was sought to use different criteria to identify maternal near miss by using the approach World Health Organization approach. The study pointed the importance of knowing the socio-demographic profile of women and showed characteristics to be identified by the health professionals in order to prevent future complications.