Antenatal Care and Assessment
Antenatal care and assessment is the structured programme of clinical contacts, screening, and surveillance offered to women during pregnancy. It aims to monitor maternal and fetal wellbeing, identify and respond to risk, provide health information and support, and prepare the woman and family for birth and the postnatal period. Within midwifery it is a core domain of continuity care delivered across the antenatal period.
Definition
Antenatal care is the care provided to a pregnant woman through a planned series of contacts during pregnancy, combining assessment of maternal and fetal health, screening, surveillance, information-giving, and support, with the goal of a healthy mother, a healthy baby, and a positive pregnancy experience.
Scope
This area orients the reader to the components and purpose of pregnancy care as a midwifery domain: the schedule and content of antenatal contacts, the screening and maternal-fetal assessments offered, nutrition and lifestyle counselling, risk identification and stratification, the role of ultrasound imaging, and attention to psychosocial wellbeing. It frames each as a topic for reference learning rather than as a protocol for any individual woman.
Sub-topics
Core questions
- What is the purpose and content of routine antenatal care across pregnancy?
- How are maternal and fetal wellbeing assessed at antenatal contacts?
- How is risk identified and used to tailor the model and frequency of care?
- How do information, counselling, and psychosocial support fit alongside clinical surveillance?
Key concepts
- Schedule and content of antenatal contacts
- Maternal and fetal surveillance
- Antenatal screening
- Risk identification and stratification
- Woman-centred and continuity-of-care models
- Positive pregnancy experience
Clinical relevance
Antenatal care is one of the most widely delivered health interventions and the setting in which much midwifery practice takes place. Understanding its components helps situate the more detailed assessment topics that follow. This entry is an orienting overview of how pregnancy care is organised and is not a protocol for managing any individual pregnancy.
Epidemiology
Models of antenatal care vary internationally in the number and content of contacts; comparative evidence in low-risk pregnancy indicates that reduced-visit schedules can have outcomes broadly similar to standard schedules for some measures while differing on others, and the WHO recommends a model of antenatal contacts oriented to a positive pregnancy experience.
History
Routine antenatal care developed through the twentieth century from sporadic pregnancy consultations into structured, scheduled programmes. Over time the emphasis broadened from detecting physical complications toward an integrated model combining surveillance, screening, health promotion, and psychosocial support, reflected in the WHO's 2016 reframing around a positive pregnancy experience.
Debates
- How many antenatal contacts, and of what content?
- Trials and reviews in low-risk pregnancy have compared reduced-visit and standard schedules, and guidance has shifted toward fewer but more substantive contacts; the optimal number and content remain debated and context-dependent.
Related topics
Seminal works
- who-2016-anc
- dowswell-2015
Frequently asked questions
- What is the goal of antenatal care?
- To monitor maternal and fetal wellbeing, screen for and respond to complications, provide health information and support, and prepare for birth, with the broader aim of a healthy mother and baby and a positive pregnancy experience.
- Is antenatal care the same everywhere?
- No. The number and content of contacts and the models of care vary by country and setting; this entry describes the components in general terms rather than any single national schedule.