Health at the border: quantitative and qualitative analysis of patients treated at the Maternal and Child Care Center in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

Foz do Iguaçu participates in the SIS-Fronteiras program and installed the Maternal and Child Care Center (CMI) to offer prenatal care service to pregnant Brazilian women resident in Paraguay (Brasiguaias). To analyze the characteristics of the CMI and compare the profile of Brasiguaias with pregnant Brazilian women resident in Brazil, a quantitative and qualitative approach in methodology was applied. It was found that Brasiguaias go to the CMI because of the precariousness of services of the Paraguayan Health System. They tend to be younger, bear more children, have lower education and are unmarried compared with pregnant Brazilian woman resident in Brazil. They omit where they live to avoid being denied the right or receiving inferior treatment than local pregnant Brazilian women and seek obstetric treatment later to avoid being denied attendance. Pregnant Brazilian women resident in Paraguay are onerous to the municipality, especially due to misinformation about their reproductive and pregnancy history, which increases the chances of undergoing cesarean delivery and hospitalization of the mother and/or infant due to complications. Effective actions in relation to maternal and child health in the border areas need to be prioritized.