Prenatal Care and Testing

Basics

The goal of prenatal care is to ensure the well-being of mother and baby using the best available evidence and a patient-centered approach. General concepts include estimating the gestational age (GA) accurately; identifying risk for complications; encouraging and empowering the patient for motherhood, newborn care, and breastfeeding; and intervening when fetal abnormalities are present to prevent morbidity and mortality.

General Prevention

In the United States, the typical prenatal visit schedule consists of monthly visits for weeks 4 to 28 of pregnancy, visits twice monthly from 28 to 36 weeks, weekly after week 36 (until delivery, typically at weeks 38 to 41).

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