Prenatal required to be treated as a priority once again- Study

Prenatal care aims to prepare women for motherhood, ensure the safety of pregnant women and identify and treat existing diseases that may interfere with the smooth running of pregnancy. Despite its importance, data reveal that prenatal care has been neglected by a large number of pregnant women. Maria Rita de Figueiredo Lemos Bortolotto, technical director of the health service at the Hospital das Clínicas of the Faculty of Medicine of USP and the Laboratory of Medical Investigation of Obstetric Physiology, comments that the exam needs to be treated as a priority again.

Prenatal care is a historically new procedure in terms of obstetrics, the monitoring of pregnant women only started in the last century. The doctor comments that, when performed correctly, prenatal care can reduce maternal mortality and detect some diseases early before they develop into more complicated situations.

There are some issues that can interfere with the lack of prenatal examination, among them is the fact that the patient does not understand its relevance to guarantee the health of the pregnancy. “When we talk about tests, it is common for some patients to understand that the blood test is the only one necessary. In addition, many times, the woman’s trip to the hospital is not facilitated by her work, the fear of losing her job makes her not attend the consultations”, explains Maria Rita.

exams
Usually, during the first prenatal visit, an evaluation of the patient’s medical history is carried out. Thus, factors such as age group, previous health conditions, nutritional status, performance of the pap smear and cancer prevention are analyzed. In addition, also during this time, issues such as the risks of work that the pregnant woman may suffer, the economic situation in which she finds herself and the possibility of suffering family violence at home are analyzed. “Ideally, we should have a comprehensive approach to the woman”, adds the doctor.

In addition, some laboratory tests are requested to identify infections and diseases that may affect the pregnant woman and the baby. Thus, medical follow-up is carried out monthly and, from the eighth month onwards, these appointments are fortnightly; finally, in the ninth month, monitoring becomes weekly. The weekly assistance only ends with the delivery.

Maria Rita also informs that prenatal care can be an opportunity to update the vaccination schedule; with regard to covid-19, it is important to highlight that pregnant women form a risk group and, for this reason, vaccination is essential to guarantee maternal health. Unfortunately, ultrasound exams, for economic reasons, cannot be offered to the population during the entire management in the public health system.