Pregnant women urged to use antenatal services early

The Tshwane metro has encouraged expecting mothers to make use of its antenatal services as early as possible in their pregnancy.

According to the MMC for Health Rina Marx, antenatal care is a critical phase in a woman’s pregnancy where early monitoring and screening occurs to identify potential risks to the health of the mother and unborn child.

“This is aimed at detecting problems already present or that can emerge in the pregnancy. Once detected, the problem can be treated.

“Antenatal care has a further role of improving the general health of women.

“The care should ideally start at the time pregnancy is diagnosed,” she said.

Marx said the care involves screening and testing for, among others, anaemia, infections, amniotic fluid complications, pre-eclampsia and hypertension.

“The primary goal is to ensure early detection and interventions for a healthy outcome for mother and child.

“It is estimated that 70% of neonatal deaths can be prevented if good-quality maternal healthcare is provided.

“This service is freely available at all primary healthcare facilities,” she said.

Marx said among some of the challenges reported in the Tshwane health district is that pregnant women make late bookings for the care.

“Some patients only arrive for care for the first time during labour.

“For the previous financial year, the early antenatal booking rate at the metro clinics was 64.4% below the national target of 74%,” she said.

Marx said as one of the improvement strategies, all metro clinics have implemented the national Department of Health’s maternal and neonatal health circular 1 of 2020.

“The circular stipulates that all women of child-bearing potential who report to clinics should be screened and tested for pregnancy.

“And after the screening and tests they should immediately be booked for antenatal care if the pregnancy test is positive.

“During the past year, 7.4% of pregnant women tested HIV-positive, which is 0.8% more than in the previous year (6.6%).

“Early antenatal care can also assist in the prevention of mother-to-child-transmission of HIV,” she said.

Marx said maternal and child health will continue to remain an important health priority for the metro.

“On a national scale, South Africa has committed itself in terms of the UN sustainable development goals 2030 to, among others, reduce maternal mortality, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under five years of age.

“Our other goal is to reduce, by one third, premature mortality from non-communicable diseases and ensure universal access to reproductive healthcare services,” she said.

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