Antenatal care is the special healthcare a woman receives when she is pregnant.
Experts recommend that women who are pregnant go for at least 4 clinic visits (roughly every 2 months) during their pregnancy. In the second and third trimester (or after the first three months of your pregnancy), it is recommended that you visit more often to ensure that you and your baby are healthy.
Proper antenatal care is extremely important to make sure that both mother and baby are safe and that the pregnancy is progressing as it should. It is also called maternal care or pregnancy care.
Proper antenatal care is the best way to prevent complications during delivery and ensure that your newborn is healthy and develops normally.
Antenatal care means going for regular clinic visits for tests and scans, learning about important issues for pregnant women such lifestyle changes to keep mom and baby comfortable as well as warning signs for complications during pregnancy and getting the right nutrition with prenatal vitamins.
Prenatal vitamins are special vitamins full of the nutrients that babies need in order to grow properly in the womb. these are also vitamins that we don’t get in our normal diet, such as folic acid and iron, which is why it is especially important that pregnant women get enough of them in their diet. Taking folic acid prevents birth defects like spina bifida , and iron keeps the placenta(the organ that feeds and oxygen from the mother to the child)strong
Your nurse will give you a pelvic exam and a pap smear, which takes a small number of cells on the inside of the cervix (womb), to make sure that the mother has a healthy reproductive system, and to make sure that she gets the right medicine for any issues that could make the pregnancy difficult.
Your nurse will check your blood pressure, and draw blood to test your blood type, general health and see if you have a blood condition you could pass onto your baby. She will weigh you and calculate your BMI (body mass index) to ensure that you are at a healthy weight. She will take a medical history: asking if you have any medical conditions or previous pregnancies, any medical conditions in your family, and whether you smoke or drink.
You will be given a maternity booklet so you can keep all your pregnancy info and test results in one place. You must remember to take this booklet with you to all your antental clinic appointments so that your Nurse can monitor how your body is changing during the pregnancy based on the date of your last period, the Unjani Nurse will help you calculate your due date.
After your first visit, you’ll need to go back to the clinic regularly to make sure your pregnancy is going well and your baby is growing properly.
The nurse will check your blood levels and pressure, your and your baby’s heart rate, and your weight.
After 10 weeks, you can visit an obstetrician who will be able to test to see if your baby is a boy or a girl.
Antenatal care at Unjani Clinics means a clinic visit every 6 weeks.
The first appointment is from R700 and includes screening and a maternity booklet.
Check-ups are from R450 and include: heartbeat check, baby growth size, and other comprehensive tests.
Throughout your pregnancy, your Unjani Nurse will test your blood and urine, and do tests to ascertain the health of the mother and baby, keeping a record from every appointment to measure healthy growth and development.
We can refer you to an obstetrician if necessary.
