BACKGROUND World Health Organisation recommends that pregnant women with no complications should visit a healthcare provider at least four times to receive sufficient antenatal care services. In Pakistan only 37% of women reported to have had four or more antenatal care visits during their last pregnancy. This study aimed to explore facilitators and barriers to use of antenatal care services in...

In high-income countries, group antenatal care (ANC) offers an alternative to individual care and is associated with improved attendance, client satisfaction, and health outcomes for pregnant women and newborns. In low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings, this model could be adapted to address low antenatal care uptake and improve quality. However, evidence on key attributes of a group c...

Routinely involving obstetricians in the care of low risk women at scheduled II 3 times does not appear to improve perinatal outcomes compared with involving obstetricians when complications arise. Where possible, women should be sent or given written information on models of care prior to their first visit. This is due to the high volume of information that women are required to process and th...

BACKGROUND There are recent efforts made to eliminate inequalities in the utilisation of basic health care services. More emphasis is given for improvement of health in developing countries including maternal and child health. However, disparities for the fast-growing population of urban poor are masked by the urban averages. The aim of this paper is to report on the findings of antenatal care ...

The rationale for providing antenatal care is to screen predominantly healthy pregnant women to detect early signs of, or risk factors for, abnormal conditions or diseases and to follow this detection with effective and timely intervention. The recommended antenatal care programme in most developing countries is often the same as the programmes used in developed countries. However, in developin...

A questionnaire study of mothers' views of the antenatal care provided in Belfast showed general satisfaction. Retrospective examination of their charts however showed in some cases that insufficient attention was paid to the medical and obstetric history in the selection of type of care made by the women and their doctors. Some women with high risk factors were booked for shared care and some ...

BACKGROUND Preconception, prenatal and postnatal care forms a continuum. Family planning is one of the important aspects of the spectrum. Contraceptive options are available but the uptake has been poor. Ante natal clinic attendees represent a major target population for well designed /appropriate post partum contraceptive counseling and care. OBJECTIVES The study examined the sociodemographi...

BACKGROUND Like much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda is facing significant maternal and fetal health challenges. Despite the fact that the majority of the Uganda population is rural and the major obstetrical care provider is the midwife, there is a lack of data in the literature regarding rural health facilities' and midwives' knowledge of ultrasound technology and perspectives on important mater...

The role of antenatal care is being increasingly questioned, particularly in resource poor environments. The low predictability of antenatal markers for adverse maternal outcomes has led some to reject antenatal care as an efficient strategy in the fight against maternal and perinatal mortality. Few studies, however, have assessed the predictability of adverse outcomes other than dystocia or pe...