The goal of the antenatal care is to have a healthy mother and baby by monitoring the well-being of both during pregnancy enabling them to make a healthy transition to labour and childbirth/delivery. Therefore, understanding the concepts and competencies of antenatal care as recommended in this Module is crucial for the good of the mother and the baby (the newborn).

According to WHO, the most common causes (about 80%) of maternal mortality and morbidity in developing countries are complications of unsafe abortion, haemorrhage, eclampsia, obstetric infections and obstructed labour which is preventable if handled on time and appropriately. In this regard, the Government of Ethiopia is committed to improving maternal health, with a target of reducing the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by three-quarters and to achieving the Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG5) over the period 1990 to 2015. To this effect, it (FMOH) has applied multi-pronged approaches to improve access to and strengthen facility level maternal and newborn services. Currently, only minimal number receive ANC and delivery service from skilled providers (doctors, nurses, midwives and HEWs) for their recent births (Ethiopian DHS 20011). Only 9% of the pregnant women received ANC from HEWs.

There are several advantages for the provision of effective Antenatal Care. It helps to detect established medical problems early and reduce the occurrence of various pregnancy-related complications; it gives the opportunity for pregnant mothers to familiarise themselves with the health facility environment and motivate them to accept the HEWs advice during home visits. Besides, it alerts the mothers to deal with pregnancy and delivery related adverse events in case they happen and to make preparations for possible emergencies and complications beforehand.

This Module is prepared to equip the learners with the basic principles and practice of Antenatal Care at health post and home level. It has 14 Study Sessions comprising of anatomy and physiology of the female reproductive system, the fetal skull in relation to maternal pelvic, fertilization and development of the fetus, hormonal changes during pregnancy, diagnosing pregnancy, providing Focus Antenatal Care (FANC), planning and promotion of ANC, assessment of the pregnant mother and the fetus, identifying risk factors in pregnancy, estimating gestational age, providing PMTCT advice, provision of the necessary care for pregnant mothers during home visits, and complications of early pregnancy like abortion and other causes of bleeding. They will be considered sequentially in this document.

Most of the content of this module is extracted from level IV Health Extension practitioners training program module and tailored for the level three training program.


Last modified: Sunday, 26 February 2017, 5:36 PM