Associated factors of neonatal near miss among newborns of adolescent mothers in Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To identify the associated factors of neonatal near miss among newborns of Brazilian adolescents and to compare their occurrence in young women aged 12 to 16 years and 17 to 19 years. METHOD: Cross-sectional, hospital-based study, using data from the study Nascer no Brasil (“Birth in Brazil”) on puerperal adolescents and their newborns in all regions of Brazil. Multiple and univariate logistic regression were employed to identify the associated factors of neonatal near miss. RESULTS: The following factors were found to be associated to neonatal near miss among newborns of adolescent mothers: public source of payment (OR = 4.57, 95% CI = 2.02–10.32), having to seek help in different maternity hospitals (OR = 1.52; 95% CI = 1.05–2.20), and maternal near miss (OR = 5.92; 95% CI = 1.94–18.05), in addition to a record of low weight in a previous pregnancy (OR = 3.12; 95% CI = 1.61–6.04) and twin pregnancy (OR = 7.49; 95% CI = 3.28–16.82). CONCLUSION: Neonatal near miss affected newborns of adolescent mothers in both age groups equally. Also, the determinant factors of neonatal near miss can be mostly reduced with qualified prenatal, labor, and birth care.