Is Prenatal Care Important?

Childbirth and pregnancy can be an absolute blessing. But if you don’t take care of yourself and your child during the pregnancy, you can actually be setting yourself up for untold problems in the future. That’s why prenatal care is so important. Prenatal care all hinges on two aspects: getting medical care as soon as you know you’re pregnant and then continuing the care regularly up through the course of your pregnancy (http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/prenatal-care.html).

Low birth weight
Statistics and studies have shown that a baby who is born to a mother without prenatal care is more likely to have a low birth weight. (In actuality, they’re three times more likely to weigh less than other babies.) This will cause major health problems in the future including poor lung development.

Disease
Regular checkups including sonograms can help your doctor detect diseases and other conditions. If a problem is discovered, there are sometimes surgeries and procedures that can be performed in utero to correct these problems.

Infant mortality
Sadly, children whose mothers did not get prenatal care are five times more likely to die in infancy. This is because of a combination of factors including poor lifestyle choices by the mother (drinking, smoking, and alcohol use) as well as poor development and problems with disease.