Rape and pregnancy of girls aged up to 13 years in Brazil: characteristics and implications in health during gestation, delivery and childbirth

Sexual violence against children and adolescents is a serious threat to the rights and full health of this age group. This study aims to describe the characteristics of mothers aged up to 13, and analyze the profile of cases of notified rape in this age range and repercussions of this violence during pregnancy and childbirth. It is a comparative study of the characteristics of gestation and childbirth of girls aged up to 13 who have had children, without or with notification of rape, in the Violence & Accidents Vigilance (VIVA) System of the Brazilian Case Registry Database (Sistema de Informacao de Agravos de Notificacao - SINAN). A significant percentage (67.5%) of the girls aged up to 13 with children were of the black race/color category. There was repeated violence in 58.2% of cases. The notified rape victims have a higher percentage of birth by cesarean section, late onset and a lower number of prenatal consultations; and their babies had lower birthweight and lower 1-minute Apgar scores than mothers without rape notification. Rape of children and adolescents is an important risk factor that has repercussions during pregnancy, and complications in delivery and childbirth.