Perinatal health in Rio de Janeiro [editorial]

In the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro there are some 90000 in-hospital deliveries per year with live births. Approximately 70% occur in institutions belonging to the Unified National Health System (SUS) (47% in the public Federal State and Municipal system and 23% in hospitals outsourced by the SUS). The remaining 30% of live-birth deliveries occur in private hospitals. Since the city of Rio de Janeiro is the former national capital it has a large concentration of public institutions thus giving its health system a unique configuration. Management of numerous hospitals was transferred from Federal to Municipal hands (through the so-called municipalization process) leading to infrastructural and functional modernization with investments in medium- and high-complexity perinatal care as well as the implementation of humanized care for the women and their newborns. (excerpt)