BACKGROUND The aim of prenatal care is to promote good maternal and foetal health and to identify risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes in an attempt to promptly manage and solve them. Although high prenatal care attendance is reported in most areas in Brazil, perinatal and neonatal mortalities are disproportionally high, raising doubts about the quality and performance of the care provid...

Background & aim: Gestational hypertension is the leading cause of maternal mortality. The most effective ways to prevent this complication are the prediction and prevention of the factors accounting for the incidence of this condition. Regarding this, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of gestational hypertension and its associated factors. <s...

BACKGROUND Prenatal care is considered to be an important component of primary health care. Our study compared prenatal care utilization and rates of adverse birth outcomes for mothers from low- and higher-income areas of New Mexico between 1989 and 1999. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Prenatal care indicators included the number of prenatal care visits and the first month of prenatal care. B...

Background & aim: Prenatal care is a key strategy for achieving public health goals, primary healthcare objectives, and the Millennium Development Goals. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors influencing the use of prenatal care services in order to design suitable interventions and promote the use of these services. Methods:In this systematic quantitative literature review, stud...

BACKGROUND The reasons why women do not obtain prenatal care even when it is available and accessible are complex. Despite Canada's universally funded health care system, use of prenatal care varies widely across neighborhoods in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the highest rates of inadequate prenatal care found in eight inner-city neighborhoods. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers, mot...

BACKGROUND The objectives of this study were to determine rates of prenatal care utilization in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada from 1991 to 2000; to compare two indices of prenatal care utilization in identifying the proportion of the population receiving inadequate prenatal care; to determine the association between inadequate prenatal care and adverse pregnancy outcomes (preterm birth, low birth ...

Antenatal care seems to be a significant contributor to low birth weight (LBW) babies, preterm birth, obstetric complications, and neonatal mortality. Widespread apply of prenatal care is often related to high-risk pregnancies; though the effects of prenatal care on unpleasant pregnancy outcomes in such pregnancies have not been widely discovered. Suitable prenatal screening and counseling are ...