Perinatal information system: a methodological proposal.

This article describes the development of an information system in perinatal care, designed for research into effectiveness-including analysis of the relationship between process and outcome- and for quality assurance purposes. The methodology for selecting perinatal problems, defining process content and indicators, specifying severity for control of confounding in the analysis of outcomes, and developing the recording format is outlined. The system and its data processing are described. Its utilization and limitations are also discussed.