Free Prenatal Care In The Community Essay Sample

Prenatal care is a preventive health care with the objectives of providing regular check-ups. These check-ups allow midwives or doctors to prevent and treat potential health problems throughout the course of pregnancy while promoting a healthy lifestyle that benefit both child and mother. Early and regular prenatal care improves the chances of a healthy pregnancy. Pregnant women normally schedule a visit to the community health care providers to begin their prenatal care services. Prenatal care services include weight checks, physical examinations, and providing the urine sample. Depending on the pregnancy’s stages, health care providers also do blood tests and imaging tests like ultrasound exams. In addition, the visit also includes the health of the infant, mother’s health and any question the pregnant women may want to know about pregnancy (Basavanthappa, 2008).
Preconception and prenatal care can help prevent any complications and inform women about critical steps they can take to protect their infant and guarantee a healthy pregnancy. There is importance of the regular prenatal care for pregnant women. First, they can reduce any chances of pregnancy risky complications. The pregnant lady should follow the healthy, safe diet; ensuring the health and development of the infant and getting regular exercise as health care provider advice. Also, pregnant women should avoid exposure to potentially harmful substances such as radiation and lead can help decrease the danger of complications during pregnancy. In addition, controlling existing conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure is critical to avoid serious complications in the pregnancy such as preeclampsia. Second, reduces the risk of infant complications. Alcohol use and smoking of tobacco during pregnancy increases the risk for sudden infant death syndrome. Also, using alcohol increase the risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders that can cause various problems such as having a small head, poor coordination, and abnormal facial features. It also leads to poor memory, problem with the heart, bones and kidney and intellectual disability. Studies have shown that long-term problems can occur with low-level parental alcohol exposure (Basavanthappa, 2008). Additionally, taking some folic acid daily may reduce the risk of neural tube defects. Prenatal vitamins contain the recommended 400mg of folic acid and other essential vitamins that pregnant women and their developing fetus need. Foods like cereals, pasta, breads, and grain-based food have addition of folic acid. Also, orange juice and green vegetables like spinach and kales have folate. Finally, the help a woman gets from prenatal care services ensures the medications are safe. Certain medications like some acne treatments, herbal supplements and dietary are not safe to take during pregnancy (Ricci & Kyle, 2009).
There are the factors beyond the control of policymakers that affect the early development of the fetus. These are maternal weight and height at the beginning of pregnancy, heritable genetic conditions and ethnicity, a mother’s previous obstetric history, and marital status. Other factors are amenable to change such as nutrition condition of a woman during pregnancy and her exposure to substances that are harmful to developing fetuses. They can also, be affected by blood pressure and the level of her blood sugar. In addition, environmental factors such as her exposure to sexually transmitted diseases that can influence her newborn baby’s health. All these and other conditions if identified early in pregnancy can be treated to improve neonatal outcome (Ricci & Kyle, 2009).
In conclusion, attention to maternal health during the course of pregnancy is central to improving newborn health. Preconception and prenatal care are critical services in maternal and infant health status. It's recommended that women who are pregnant should critically attend to their prenatal care for on health and health of the fetus.

Reference

Basavanthappa. (2008). Community Health Nursing. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Publishers.
Susan S. R., Kyle. T. (2009). Maternity and Pediatric Nursing. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.