Summary

In this Study Session, you learned that:

• Focused antenatal care (FANC) categorises pregnant women into those eligible to receive routine ANC (the basic component) and those who need specialised care for because of the identified risk factors.
  
• FANC emphasises targeted and individualised care and birth planning.
  
• FANC involves the husband and the family in caring for the pregnancy and identifying related complications as well as in planning the future course of the pregnancy.
  
• In general, no pregnancy can be labelled as risk-free.
  
• In FANC, the pregnant woman undergoes four antenatal visits each with its objectives to promote the health of the mother and the foetus in assessing risk factors and providing an early remedy for complications detected.
  
• The first FANC visit should be before 16 weeks of pregnancy. It has objectives to assess the woman's medical and obstetric history, do a physical examination and lab test, to use the results for classifying the eligibility of the pregnancy to follow either the basic component or specialised care.
  
• The second FANC visit would be conducted at the 24 - 28 weeks of gestation. It also focusses, on measuring blood pressure and the fundal height to determine the health of the pregnancy and the gestational age.
  
• The third FANC visit takes place at 30 - 32 weeks of gestation with additional primary objectives of detecting whether or not the pregnancy is multiple.
  
• The fourth or the final FANC visit would be conducted between weeks 36 and 40. The main focus of this visit is to determine the position (the lie) and the presentation of the foetus in the uterus and to check the vital signs of both the mother and the foetus. It also includes advice for the mother and relatives to pay utmost attention for birth preparedness and readiness in case of complication and emergency.
  
• The readiness and emergency planning comprise of preparation in advance for the actions to be taken before, during and after delivery including maternal feeding, the organisation of transport for transferring the mother to the anticipated health facility without delay, money for the required expenses and ensuring availability of support persons and blood donors.
  
• A pregnant woman, who needs a referral to the next higher level health facility at any stage of gestation, should be accompanied by relevant details of her health history, diagnosis and the intervention (treatment) provided using the appropriate form if available or just a note with the required information.