Abstract
Objective: To know the reasons that led pregnant women to not attend any prenatal consultation in a city in the Central Region of Rio Grande do Sul, in 2017. Methods: field study of qualitative approach of descriptive-exploratory nature. Women's addresses were accessed by consulting the Live Births Information System Database. Next, the active search at home was performed. Eight women participated through a semi-structured interview. Content analysis followed the steps recommended by Minayo, namely pre-analysis, material exploration, treatment, and interpretation of results. Results: three categories of analysis emerged: “Fragility of the social support network for pregnant women”; “Weaknesses in caring for the 'self', regarding the baby care” and “Weakness in the work processes of health teams in pregnant women care”. Conclusion: There are several reasons for the non-completion of prenatal care by pregnant women. They involve attitudes and transcend biological aspects. This study may subsidize the academy, managers, and health professionals in order to ensure public policies recommended for women's health, especially in the process of pregnancy.