Prenatal care (also known as antenatal care) refers to the regular medical and nursing care recommended for women during pregnancy. Prenatal care is a type of preventative care with the goal of providing regular check-ups that allow doctors or midwives to treat and prevent potential health problems throughout the course of the pregnancy while promoting healthy lifestyles that benefit both mother and child. During check-ups, women will receive medical information over maternal physiological changes in pregnancy, biological changes, and prenatal nutrition including prenatal vitamins. Recommendations on management and healthy lifestyle changes are also made during regular check-ups. The availability of routine prenatal care has played a part in reducing maternal death rates and miscarriages as well as birth defects, low birth weight, and other preventable health problems.
Prenatal care generally consists of:
- monthly visits during the first two trimesters (from week 1–28)
- fortnightly from 28 to week 36 of pregnancy
- weekly after week 36 (delivery at week 38–40)
- Assessment of parental needs and family dynamic
Read more about Prenatal Care: Prenatal Examinations, In The United States
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