Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-c654p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-25T13:14:30.378Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prenatal Care—An Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

H. David Banta ,
Susanne Houd  and
Elbio Suarez Ojeda
H. David Banta
Affiliation:
World Health Organization
Susanne Houd
Affiliation:
World Health Organization
Elbio Suarez Ojeda
Affiliation:
Pan American Health Organization
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Prenatal care is all of the care that a pregnant woman receives from organized health care services, as well as from family, relatives, and friends. It begins with planning for pregnancy, and should be seen by those who give it as part of a process that continues through labor and delivery and into the neonatal period. The primary aim of prenatal care is promotion of maternal and fetal health, viewed as a unit until the pregnancy reaches full term (3). This encompasses the goals of reducing maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, detecting early factors that heighten the perinatal risk in both individual pregnancies and vulnerable groups, intervening to improve outcomes, educating all who provide or receive prenatal care, and helping women make their pregnancies and birth a positive life experience.

Type
The Technology of Prenatal Care
Information
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care , Volume 1 , Issue 4 , October 1985 , pp. 783 - 788
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Standards for Obstetric-Gynecologic Services. Washington, D.C., 1965.Google Scholar
2.American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Standards for Obstetric-Gynecologic Services. Washington, D.C., 1982.Google Scholar
3.Caldeyro-Barcia, R. Purposes of prenatal care. Presented at the Interregional Conference on Appropriate Technology for Prenatal Care. sponsored by the World Health Organization. Washington, D.C., 26–30 November 1984.Google Scholar
4.Donaldson, P. & Billy, J.The impact of prenatal care on birth weight. Medical Care. 1984. 22, 177–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Faundes, A., Hardy, E., Diaz, J., & Pinotti, J.Association of marital status and years of schooling with perinatal outcome: the influence of prenatal care as an intermediate variable. Journal of Perinatal Medicine, 1982, 10, 105–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Faundes, A. & Pinotti, J. Simplified prenatal care. Presented at the Interregional Conference on Appropriate Technology for Prenatal Care, 1984.Google Scholar
7.Galbraith, J.The new industrial state. New York: The New American Library, 1984.Google Scholar
8.Gortmaker, S.The effects of prenatal care upon the health of the newborn. American Journal of Public Health, 1984, 69, 653–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Greenberg, R. S.The impact of prenatal care in different social groups. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1984, 145, 797–801.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Hemminki, E. & Starfield, B.Routine administration of iron and vitamins during pregnancy: review of controlled clinical trials. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1978. 85, 404–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Kessner, D., Singer, J., Kalk, C., & Schlesinger, E.Infant death: an analysis by maternal risk and health care. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, 1973.Google Scholar
12.Oakley, A. History of prenatal care. Presented at the Interregional Conference on Appropriate Technology for Prenatal Care, 1984.Google Scholar
13.Office of Technology Assessment. Assessing the efficacy and safety of medical technologies. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1978.Google Scholar
14.Peoples, M. D. & Siegel, E.Measuring the impact of programs for mothers and infants on prenatal care and low birth weight: the value of refined analyses. Medical Care, 1983. 21, 586–608.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Placek, P. Maternal and infant health factors associated with low infant birthweight: findings from the 1972 National Natality Survey. In The epidemiology of prematurity, Reed, D. M. & Stanley, F. J. (eds.), Baltimore: Urban & Schwarzenberg, 1977.Google Scholar
16.Quick, J. D., Greenlick, M., & Roghmann, K.Prenatal care and pregnancy outcome in an HMO and general population: a multivariate cohort analysis. American Journal of Public Health. 1981, 71, 381–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Shear, C., Gipe, B., Mattheis, J., & Levy, M. R.Provider continuity and quality of medical care. Medical Care, 1983, 21, 1204–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Showstack, J., Budetti, P., & Minkler, D.Factors associated with birthweight: an exploration of the roles of prenatal care and length of gestation. American Journal of Public Health. 1984. 74, 1003–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Sokol, R., Wolf, R. B., Rosen, M. G., & Weingarden, K.Risk antepartum care and outcome: impact of a maternity and infant care project. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 1980. 56, 150–4.Google ScholarPubMed
20.Stickle, G. & Ma, P.Some social and medical correlates of pregnancy outcome. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 1977, 127, 162–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Taffel, S. Factors associated with low birthweight in the United States. 1976. Vital and Health Statistics. Series 21, No. 37, DHEW Pub. No. (PHS) 80–1915. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics, 1980.Google Scholar
22.Thacker, S. & Berkelman, R. The cost and effectiveness of antepartum screening. Presented at the Interregional Conference on Appropriate Technology for Prenatal Care. 1984.Google Scholar