Prenatal Care

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Prenatal Care

the aggregate of hygienic, organizational, and therapeutic-prophylactic measures directed toward the creation of optimal conditions for the normal development of the human fetus and the prevention of congenital diseases, developmental anomalies, and afterbirth (perinatal) deaths. Various diseases in the mother before or during pregnancy may adversely affect the fetus and lead to premature birth, developmental defects, various diseases in the uterine or later life of the infant, and sometimes to the death of the fetus. The maternal organism, acted upon by the external environment, becomes in its turn the external environment of the fetus, interaction with which is effected mainly through the circulatory system of the afterbirth—placenta. For this reason, the mother’s condition before and during pregnancy is important for the development of the embryo and the fetus in the first days and weeks of pregnancy.

Prenatal care includes the early observation of pregnant women; early discovery ..treatment, and prophylaxis of infectious, cardiovascular, and other diseases and toxicoses of pregnancy; rational diet; prohibition of medications and X-ray radiation without a doctor’s prescription; prohibition of alcohol and tobacco; sufficient oxygen saturation of the mother’s organism; residence in a special sanatorium or rest home for pregnant women; a proper regimen of work and rest; therapeutic exercise; psychoprophylactic preparation for giving birth; and the future mother’s visit to a school for motherhood. Qualified help at childbirth is very important. Early tests for the blood group and Rh factor of the pregnant woman are performed.

Prenatal care is effected by the whole system of Soviet public health and motherhood and childhood protection, which are directed toward prophylaxis. Prenatal care is also stipulated in special legislation pertaining to women workers in general and to pregnant women in particular. This legislation includes pregnancy and childbirth leaves and grants and other measures. Fulfillment of these measures and their immediate execution are provided by women’s consultation offices, the social-legal bureaus connected with them, maternity homes, and medical and genetic consultation offices that give prophylaxis and treatment for hereditary diseases.

REFERENCES

“Nauchnaia sessiia po probleme ‘Antenatal’nyi period zhizni i prob-lemy ego okhrany’.” In Tezisy dokladov. Moscow, 1961.
Flamm, G. Prenatal’nye infektsii cheloveka. Moscow, 1962. (Translated from German.)
Zhenskaia konsul’tatsiia. Edited by L. S. Persianinov. Minsk, 1966.

A. L. KAPLAN

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Endorsing a reduced number of prenatal visits for low-risk women, the US Department of Health and Human Services Expert Panel on Prenatal Care issued a report in 1989 that stated "the specific content and timing of prenatal visits, contacts, and education should vary depending on the risk status of the pregnant woman and her fetus." (9) Consistent with that recommendation, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) jointly published guidelines that recommend a system of goal-oriented antenatal visits at specific gestational ages and that support a reduced schedule of prenatal visits, compared with traditional models, for low-risk, parous women.

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The data collected on prenatal care in the National Health Research allows an overview of the quality of prenatal care in Brazil, so it may contribute to develop the assistance of pregnant women, improving the results and decreasing the rates of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality (14).

Quality of Prenatal Care in Brazil: National Health Research 2013

Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women has been documented to increase insurance coverage during pregnancy and improve the use of prenatal care (Currie and Gruber 1996b; Dubay et al.

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Among the 40 unvaccinated mothers, 10 (25%) did not receive a recommendation or referral off-site for vaccination from their prenatal care provider, nine (23%) were referred off-site for vaccination but did not receive Tdap vaccine, eight (20%) mothers reported refusing Tdap vaccine for personal reasons, seven (18%) were deferred for vaccination by their provider for a reason not considered by ACIP to be a contraindication (prior receipt of Tdap vaccine, minor illness, or current medication use), three (8%) did not receive prenatal care during 27-36 weeks' gestation, one (3%) reported a possible valid contraindication (adverse reaction to pertussis vaccination as a child), and no information was available for two (5%) women (6) (Table 1).

Barriers to Receipt of Prenatal Tetanus Toxoid, Reduced Diphtheria Toxoid, and Acellular Pertussis Vaccine Among Mothers of Infants Aged <4 Months with Pertussis--California, 2016

Patients who became high risk during prenatal care were no more likely to receive adequate care under one model than the other.

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In this retrospective cohort study, we tested the hypothesis that a new model of prenatal care, PodCare, would increase value by decreasing the number of visits while increasing continuity with providers and maintaining current high quality care.

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Prenatal care received, vaginal delivery mode and no baby complication were found to be significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding.

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(9) These perinatal transmissions took place despite a Provincial Prenatal Screening Program, implemented in 2002, whereby all pregnant women seeking prenatal care are tested for syphilis and four other infectious disease markers (hepatitis B, HIV, rubella and varicella) at their first prenatal visit.

Examination of a prenatal syphilis screening program, Alberta, Canada: 2010-2011

Furthermore, social workers are often frontline workers delivering services to women; if knowledgeable about the HIV medical advancements and health knowledge, they can be a valuable resource for educating women of childbearing age on the importance of HIV testing during prenatal care.

Eradicating perinatal HIV transmission is possible: a model for social work practitioners