Why Access to Prenatal Care Matters

The transformative journey of pregnancy brings a mixture of joy, anticipation, anxiety, and significant physical and emotional changes. It can be a beautiful experience for many women, but it can also present challenges. Prenatal care helps women navigate the journey. More than just medical check-ups, prenatal care includes everything from mental health support to nutrition guidance and exercise routines to family planning.

“Prenatal care plays an incredibly crucial role in the health of both the mother and baby,” said Dr. Cynthia Brown, medical director of women and children’s health for Elevance Health.

Brown helps develop maternal health strategies that also advance health equity. As an obstetrician with years of close, personal experiences with women and babies, she said prenatal care is the foundation to achieving safer, healthier pregnancies and births.

“The joy of handing a healthy baby to their mother is unparalleled,” Brown said. “However, it's also heart-wrenching when we encounter challenging situations. Fortunately, the nine-month prenatal period allows us the window to intervene if there is a problem, manage any existing or newly occurring health conditions, and, overall, significantly improve outcomes.”

What Are the Main Goals of Prenatal Screening?

Regular prenatal care not only supports a healthy pregnancy but also helps identify potential risks, initiate timely interventions, address health-related social needs, and ensure the best possible health outcomes. The first prenatal appointment should occur within the first trimester, as recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). During this initial visit, care providers comprehensively review the pregnant woman’s health. Brown said it’s also an opportunity to detect and address health conditions.

“One of the potential dangers during pregnancy includes infections that can be passed on to the baby and cause harm,” she said. “For instance, chlamydia, if unchecked, is the leading cause of infant blindness. However, with the right prenatal care, it can be easily identified, treated, and cured in the expectant mother, therefore preventing transmission to the baby. Similarly, potential health risks such as high blood pressure and diabetes can be diagnosed and controlled early, ultimately resulting in a healthier pregnancy for both mother and baby.”

The spectrum of maternal diseases and conditions that can influence pregnancy and health outcomes include:

• Gestational diabetes causes high blood sugar during pregnancy, and can result in preterm birth, respiratory distress in infants, pre-eclampsia, greater need for cesarean section, and future risk of Type 2 diabetes for both mother and baby.
• Mental Health Conditions: One in five women in the U.S. experiences mental health conditions such as postpartum depression and anxiety, making mental health conditions the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth. Left untreated, mental health conditions lead to significant increases in maternal suicide and overdoses in the first twelve months after birth.
• Maternal obesity raises the risk of gestational diabetes, premature birth, and many other conditions. In addition to maternal obesity complicating pregnancy, it can also lead to health concerns later in life for both mother and child.
• Pre-eclampsia is a life-threatening hypertension condition. Elevance Health research found  women with pre-eclampsia had triple the risk of pre-term delivery and a baby requiring intensive care when compared with people with no hypertension.

Without prenatal care, the risks magnify and a pregnancy is five times more likely to end in a pregnancy-related death. However, prenatal care is not limited to one visit. Regular check-ups monitor both the woman’s health and any possible health concerns for the baby, even when the expectant mother is considered to have a low-risk pregnancy.