Antenatal Care

Antenatal Care (ANC): Because, a little extra care can go a long way!

Whether you are in good health or are coping with a rough pregnancy, staying fit and healthy is essential. This is where Antenatal Care (ANC) steps in

What is Antenatal Care?

Antenatal care or ANC is your first contact with the health care system when you are expecting. ANC is a healthcare service which is beyond maternity care. It includes diagnosing and managing any pregnancy-related complications and classes that will help you and your partner experience a happy, healthy pregnancy. The World Health Organization has recommended a minimum of 8 ANC visits when you are expecting.

A high quality prenatal or Antenatal Care (ANC) not just helps you treat chronic conditions and non-communicable diseases when you are pregnant, but the classes involved in it can educate you and your better half on birth, breastfeeding, delivery, and parenting etc.

From minimizing the risk of mother-to-child disease transmission (HIV) to encouraging the use of a skilled birth attendant, ANC is womb-like care that caters to all your needs.

The Antenatal Care you go through depends on:

• The stage of pregnancy you are in
• Problems that you are experiencing (if any) during your pregnancy
• Your health condition and the risks you or your baby may have

What to expect during the appointments?

From the first appointment to the last session, there will be a series of tests, treatments, scans, check-ups, and discussions related to your health and your baby’s health.

The discussions in ANC involves morning sickness (how to deal with it?), the medication you are taking and its effect on health (if any), the importance of a healthy lifestyle for you and your partner, and an intense discussion of your medical history and your previous pregnancies to avoid any complications. The healthcare provider also keeps a track on your pregnancy trimester and educates you on your due date and if in case of a tough pregnancy they educate you and your partner on the signs of a healthy pregnancy and any complications related to it.

During the discussions, they provide you with a healthy diet plan and birth plan along with tests such as blood and urine tests, genetic screening, Pap test, ultrasounds, and others depending on your need. They keep a tab on your weight, pressure and the size of the growing tummy to predict the growth and development of your baby.

The appointment also includes monitoring your baby’s heart rate to check how he/she is doing and counselling sessions to support you emotionally if you are depressed or anxious because of the constant fluctuating hormones. ANC suggests you take the antenatal classes for a better pregnancy experience.

What do you learn from the Antenatal classes?

Antenatal classes are a continuum of care for you and your little one. Given below are a few things that antenatal classes can enlighten you with:

• The healthcare provider prepares you for the labor (what to expect) and educates you on the different stages of labor, its signs and teaches you relaxation and breathing skills to use during the labor
• The healthcare specialist teaches you the methods of breastfeeding and skills on early parenting.
• They provide you with all the answers to the questions that have been running through your mind like when to call the hospital? What are the different birthing positions? What is the new-born baby’s behavior? Etc.

Postnatal Care

As the roller coaster ride you hopped on comes to an end, there are miscellaneous things to be taken care of. The first few hours and days after delivery are the riskiest for both mothers and their newborns. That is why utter care should to given to both. While most people focus more on the pregnancy care on the nine months of pregnancy, postnatal care or postpartum care is important too. The postpartum period begins right after the delivery and lasts to about six to eight weeks.

What is Postnatal Care?

Postnatal care or PNC is specialized care for the mother that starts within an hour after the delivery and lasts through the following six to eight weeks. The care includes the prevention, elimination, early detection and cure of health complications (if any), counselling on breastfeeding, immunization, an interactive session on the importance of birth spacing and maternal nutrition, etc.

After the delivery, the mother goes through many changes that can be physical and emotional while they learn to take care of their newborn. Therefore, postpartum or postnatal care involves getting proper rest, nutrition, and vaginal care for the mother for a quicker recovery.

Why is Postnatal Care important?

Postnatal care for women is essential after the delivery, keeping labor and birth in account. It is designed according to a woman’s individual needs and preferences and aims to create a supportive environment for the new mother and her baby where even the families are involved. Here, the families are guided by professionals to take care of the mother, and the baby and also the mothers are taught how to care for her baby and themselves.

An essential element to postnatal care is midwifery care. If everything is well with the mother and the baby and depending on the type of birth, she is discharged home between 6-24 hours after delivery to the care of the community midwifery team. The midwives and/or the support workers are helping the mother adjust to her life with the new baby, helping her with feeding and baby care as well as giving her emotional support. A few of the postnatal midwifery services include:

• Assists the mother with breastfeeding
• Advice and supports the mother throughout the postnatal care
• Provides physical and emotional support to the new mother
• Will arrange for the full examination of baby, screening tests and hearing test if required

Another important factor is the routine checkups after the delivery. Post delivery the woman is discharged to the care of the GP and Health Visitor by day 4-10 following birth if the emotional and physical condition of the other is stabilized. But it does not end here. A regular visit to the healthcare specialist is essential to rule out or treat any health-related issues. The healthcare specialist will formulate a healthcare plan according to the mother and her baby’s individual needs and these plans are communicated to all relevant professional groups that are involved in the mother and the baby’s care. You can trust Prolife for this. The Obstetric services at Prolife include:

• Antenatal care (before birth)
• Intrapartum care (during labor and delivery)
• Postnatal care (after birth)

Pregnancy Trimesters

We provide comprehensive consultations, lab investigations, and radiology services to provide the best possible care during your 1st trimester to 3rd trimester.

A woman will experience many changes during the pregnancy like morning sickness, or nausea and vomiting due to pregnancy, at 6–8 weeks. A pregnant woman might also feel very tired and notice that she is more emotional than usual due to hormonal changes.

Types of Delivery

Bringing a baby into this world is a monumental feat and cannot be achieved easily. Although normal vaginal delivery is commonly referred as the typical way of birthing, New techniques help laboring women in many ways, either by dampening their pain or smoothening the delivery process.

An easy birth and a perfectly executed birth plan are ideal. But we know that even the most carefully planned birth can take twists and turns. In those cases, it’s important to be prepared for alternative delivery methods.

Most Common Types of Childbirth Options

• Normal Delivery
• Assisted Delivery
• Cesarean section
• Painless Delivery(Epidural)

Pregnancy Scans

Dr.Tharamani Ram at Prolife provides comprehensive pregnancy scans services for pregnant women. she and her staff will monitor your pregnancy to ensure that you have a safe pregnancy and deliver a healthy baby. During an ultrasound your doctor or a skilled technician uses a plastic transducer to transmit high-frequency sound waves through your uterus. These sound waves send signals back to a machine that converts them into images of your baby.

Depending on the stage of pregnancy your doctor will offer you scan accordingly. The scan can provide information that may mean you have to make further important decisions.

Pregnancy Complications

Along with your bundle of joy, Prolife brings on a mixture of feelings like happiness, excitement, anxiety, and more. This overwhelming feeling is entirely normal because you are suddenly responsible for bringing a person into the world.

It is also natural for you to have millions of questions related to gynaecological problems racing your mind! But don’t worry; gynaecological problems during pregnancy are perfectly common since your body tends to go through a range of adjustments. If you are facing a gynaecological problem, then please do consult with your healthcare specialist at the earliest. If it is left unattended, then it can pose a risk to you as well as your little one inside.

High-risk Pregnancy

Having a baby is an important milestone in couple’s life. For some , this milestone comes with utter happiness, joy, and comfort whereas for others the journey may not be the same. We are talking about high-risk pregnancy in women.

Usually, in a full-term pregnancy, a woman goes into labor (on or around her expected due date), gives birth to a healthy baby and leaves the hospital a day or two later to start resume her normal day-to-day life but not all women are lucky enough to go through this smooth journey of Prolife.  A few women experience what the doctors refer to as a high-risk pregnancy.

Ectopic / Tubal pregnancy

When a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus it is termed as Ectopic Pregnancy. It often occurs in fallopian tubes, which carries the egg from the ovaries to the uterus. This type of ectopic pregnancy is called a tubal pregnancy.

An ectopic pregnancy can’t proceed normally as the fertilized egg can’t survive, and the growing tissue may cause life-threatening bleeding if left untreated.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF ECTOPIC PREGNANCY?

An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg gets stuck on its way to the uterus because of the damaged fallopian tube due to inflammation.