Severe maternal morbidity identified in the Hospital Information System of the Brazilian National Health System in Paraná State, Brazil, 2010.

OBJECTIVE to describe near miss maternal morbidity among women living in Paraná State, Brazil, in 2010. METHODS this was a descriptive study using Brazilian National Hospital Information System (SIH/SUS) data on all hospital admissions with primary diagnosis falling under Chapter XV of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision and/or with records of obstetric procedures indicative of near misses; three criteria were used to define severe maternal morbidity. RESULTS 4,890 admissions owing to near miss were identified, with a rate of 52.9 hospitalizations per 1,000 births, a rate of 69.8/1,000 among women aged 35-39 and a rate of 356.6/1,000 among women aged 44-49; the leading causes of hospitalization were preeclampsia (28.2%), haemorrhage (23.7%) and immune system dysfunction (14.0%). CONCLUSION the results indicate the need to pay greater attention to women aged 35 and over since they had higher rates of near miss.