Pregnancy and childbirth in Florianópolis — registration, tests, maternity hospitals, what to take with you

Step one: get registered

You should go to the health center of your place of residence, and the addresses of all 51 are collected in Health care in Florianópolis — health centers, clinics, UPA and hospitals by neighborhood. You do not need to make an appointment in advance; the primary care level is obliged to take on prenatal care.

What happens at the first appointment:

• rapid tests for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B and C — performed in the office;
• measurements: blood pressure, weight, height — they will compare later measurements to these;
• they issue the Caderneta da Gestante — the pregnant-woman card. It stays with you, it is taken to every appointment, to tests, to any emergency service and to the maternity hospital. Since May 2026 it has a digital version in the Meu SUS Digital app;
• they name the maternity hospital to which you are assigned, and the hospital for complications;
• they start a conversation about the plano de parto — written birth preferences.

They will also tell you the days of the Grupo de Gestantes — groups for pregnant women at the health center.

How many consultations and when

Regulation requires a minimum of seven. Ministry of Health schedule:

The Ministry of Health recommends having the first consultation before the 12th week.

Tests by trimester

List from the Caderneta da Gestante. What exactly will be ordered is decided by the doctor; the list below is routine, not an exhaustive ceiling.

First trimester or first consultation:

• pregnancy test, complete blood count;
• blood type and Rh factor, indirect Coombs test if Rh-negative;
• hemoglobin electrophoresis;
• fasting glucose — or a 75 g glucose tolerance test if the gestational age is over 24 weeks;
• rapid tests or expanded exams for syphilis, HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C;
• toxoplasmosis serology, HTLV test;
• urinalysis and urine culture with antibiogram;
• ultrasound — ideally between 7 and 12 weeks;
• if suspected — Chagas disease, in endemic regions — malaria.

Second trimester:

• 75 g glucose tolerance test — preferably between 24 and 28 weeks;
• repeat Coombs test if Rh-negative;
• repeat toxoplasmosis if there is no immunity.

Third trimester:

• complete blood count, fasting glucose;
• repeat tests for syphilis and HIV;
• urinalysis and urine culture;
• repeat Coombs and toxoplasmosis tests as indicated.

In labour or immediately after — rapid tests for HIV and syphilis, and for hepatitis B and C if they were not done earlier.

Where all of this is done in Floripa, including private options and laboratory addresses, is in Lab tests, ultrasounds and scans in Florianópolis — where to get them and how it works.

Vaccinations

The RSV vaccine was the most recent addition to the schedule: this virus causes the most infant hospitalisations for bronchiolitis. If a baby is born preterm, nirsevimab is provided in the maternity hospital, also covered by SUS. What was not given before delivery is given afterwards.

Warning signs: when not to wait for an appointment

List from the Ministry of Health. With any of these — go to the nearest medical service, to your maternity hospital or call 192:

• blood pressure higher than usual or above 140/90;
• vaginal bleeding;
• severe or persistent abdominal pain;
• temperature from 37.8 °C;
• severe headache or a headache that does not go away;
• visual disturbances: blurred vision, flashes, blind spots, photophobia, loss of vision;
• severe pain under the sternum, in the pit of the stomach;
• pain or burning on urination;
• sudden swelling of the face, hands or legs;
• the baby has stopped moving — especially if after 20 weeks more than 4 hours have passed without movements;
• red spots on the skin or red eyes;
• severe malaise or a feeling that something is wrong;
• chest pain, shortness of breath, seizures, fainting.

At night and on weekends the nearest place open to walk-ins is a UPA, but with obstetric complaints go to the maternity hospital: they have 24-hour obstetric emergency, and UPA does not.

Maternity hospitals in Florianópolis

Snapshot of the registry as of Aug 2026. Obstetric and neonatal wards are marked in CNES.

Carmela Dutra and Celso Ramos are on the same street almost opposite each other, at numbers 208 and 297. This is useful to know in advance: in the dark and in labour they are often confused.

High-risk pregnancies are not managed at the health center but in a specialized service, by referral from the CS, through the Policlínica da Mulher e da Criança, Rua Esteves Júnior, 89, Centro, (48) 3240-5525.

Which maternity hospital is yours: the city is divided by districts

Since 7 Aug 2023 low-risk births under SUS are assigned by territory: the maternity hospital is determined not by choice or by distance, but by the health center you are registered with. Two institutions divide the city.

HU-UFSC — 21 health centers, the entire south and the eastern part of the island: Carianos, Costa da Lagoa, Costeira do Pirajubaé, Fazenda do Rio Tavares, Lagoa da Conceição, Morro das Pedras, Pântano do Sul, Ribeirão da Ilha, Rio Tavares, Alto Ribeirão, Armação, Caieira da Barra do Sul, Campeche, Canto da Lagoa, Saco Grande, Saco dos Limões, Trindade, Pantanal, Córrego Grande, Itacorubi, João Paulo.

Maternidade Carmela Dutra — 29 health centers, the centre, the entire mainland and the entire north of the island: Agronômica, Centro, Monte Serrat, Prainha, Abraão, Balneário, Capoeiras, Coloninha, Coqueiros, Estreito, Jardim Atlântico, Monte Cristo, Novo Continente, Sapé, Vila Aparecida, Barra da Lagoa, Cachoeira do Bom Jesus, Canasvieiras, Capivari, Jurerê, Ingleses, Ponta das Canas, Ratones, Rio Vermelho, Santinho, Santo Antônio de Lisboa, Tapera, Vargem Pequena, Vargem Grande.

If you live in the north, you will give birth at Carmela Dutra, in the city centre, and not at the facility closest to your home. From Ingleses it is about 35 km via SC-401, and the trip is part of the birth plan, not a minor detail.

High-risk pregnancy is not related to this division: it is managed, and the birth attended, by referral, in the institution designated by the service.

What to take to the maternity hospital

List from the Caderneta da Gestante:

• photo ID or birth certificate, CPF;
• the Caderneta da Gestante itself;
• completed plano de parto;
• comfortable clothes for yourself, pads and hygiene items;
• clothes and diapers for the baby.

And the things decided in advance, not on the way: who will go as a companion, who will stay with older children, the address of the maternity hospital written down and how to get there.

Rights many people do not know about

What is useful right at the maternity-hospital door:

• A companion — of your choice and any gender, at consultations, in labour, for caesarean and afterwards.
• A doula — her presence is ensured in both public and private institutions at the request of the woman in labour; there can be no separate charge for this.
• To know your maternity hospital in advance and to come and see it.
• The plano de parto is not a contract: it can be rewritten at any time, including during labour.
• Care without discrimination on the basis of race, age, citizenship and migration status — the Ministry of Health wording verbatim.

Where all this comes from and what else is guaranteed — insurance waiting periods, caesarean rates, partogram, maternity pay, protection from dismissal — is set out, law by law, in Pregnancy and childbirth in Brazil — prenatal care, maternity hospital, insurance, rights. Documents for the child after birth are explained in Birth of a child in Brazil — registration, citizenship, documents. Access to SUS for newcomers is covered in Medical care and insurance in Brazil.

Sources

1. T1Caderneta Brasileira da Gestante, Ministério da Saúde do Brasil, Brasília, 2026 — rights, minimum consultations, tables of exams and vaccines, warning signs, list for maternity hospitalgov.br · primary source
2. T1CNES, Ministério da Saúde — hospitals of Florianópolis with obstetric and neonatal center indicator, addresses and phonesapidadosabertos.saude.gov.br · primary source
3. T1SES/SC — Maternidade Carmela Dutra: about 300 births per month, 24-hour obstetric emergency, donor milk banksaude.sc.gov.br · primary source
4. T1Lei nº 15.381 of 8 Apr 2026 — the profession of doula, the right to her presence at childbirth and prohibition of additional payment for thisplanalto.gov.br · primary source
5. T1Ebserh/HU-UFSC — territorialization of obstetric care since 7 Aug 2023: routine-risk births distributed between HU-UFSC and Carmela Dutra by health centersgov.br · primary source
6. T2UFSC — nominal lists: 21 health centers assigned to HU-UFSC and 29 for Maternidade Carmela Dutranoticias.ufsc.br · secondary source

T1 — primary: law, agency site, price list. T2 — secondary: press, specialist sites. T3 — other.