With the proposal to establish a healthcare network which guarantees women the right to reproduction planning and humanized care during pregnancy, delivery and puerperium, the Ministry of Health created in June this year the Rede Cegonha [Stork Network].In 2011, the project started to be organized in the State by conducting meetings, forums and workshops with Municipal managers who began to know the network and were involved in the deepening of the discussion on maternal and infant healthcare lines.

The Rede Cegonha also intends to guarantee children the right to safe arrival and healthy growth and development.The network, comprising four components – prenatal, delivery and birth, puerperium and full attention to the child’s health and logistics system (patient transportation and regulation), is expected to be performed in five phases:adherence and diagnosis, regional design of the network, contracting of the attention points, qualification and certification of the components.

In Rio de Janeiro, Rede Cegonha’s implementation process began in August this year in the Metropolitan Regions I (Rio de Janeiro, Belford Roxo, Duque de Caxias, Itaguaí, Japeri, Magé, Mesquita, Nilópolis, Nova Iguaçu, Queimados, São João de Meriti and Seropédica) and II (Itaboraí, Maricá, Niterói, Rio Bonito, São Gonçalo, Silva Jardim and Tanguá), which, together, comprise around 11,814,001 inhabitants.The State was the first in the country to construct Action Plans and already includes the second phase of the process with the conduction of meetings, forums and workshops with the managers of the municipalities of both regions.

The workshops, organized by the Sub-Secretary of HealthCare and the Superintendency of SES Basic Care, were held in November in Rio Bonito and Itaipava.Addressed to municipal managers, they counted on the participation of Secretaries of Health, Basic Care professionals, coordinators of the Women and Child Programs, Control and Evaluation and Regulation.

In these two events, which gathered around 100 people each, work groups were organized for discussions on actions and activities agreed by the municipalities.The participants presented the work they have developed in a plenary meeting and, subsequently, divided into groups per municipality in order to map their care lines and main problems.At the end of the workshops, these groups showed their care lines and the proposal for the consolidation of the Rede Cegonha in their regions.

Investments - In 2011, the Ministry of Health made around R$ 15 million available to cover the expenses with hospital beds in Metropolitan Regions I and II.For 2012, the expected investment is R$ 300 million and will also include the expenses with the hospital beds.Some of the maternity hospitals of the State network, specialized in providing assistance to high-risk pregnant women will receive the Casa da Gestante, Bebê e Puerpério [Pregnant Women, Baby and Puerperium Center].The area, which will have 20 hospital beds each, will serve to host mothers whose babies are admitted in neonatal ICUs or IUs, allowing continued breastfeeding and proximity between mother and child.

In addition, with the recent support by Fiotec, the Rede Cegonha will continue to expand to other regions in the State throughout the next year.

Source: Portal da Saúde do Rio de Janeiro [Rio de Janeiro Health Portal] (Adapted Text)