Prenatal care helps decrease risks during pregnancy and increases the chance of a safe and healthy delivery. Regular prenatal visits can help your doctor monitor your pregnancy and identify any problems or complications before they become serious.Babies born to mothers who lack prenatal care have triple the chance of being born at a low birth weight. Newborns with low birth weight are five times more likely to die than those whose mothers received prenatal care.While most attention to pregnancy care focuses on the nine months of pregnancy, postpartum care is important, too. The postpartum period lasts six to eight weeks, beginning right after the baby is born.

Pre-conception counseling (also called pre-conceptual counseling) is a meeting with a health-care professional (generally a physician or midwife) by a woman before attempting to become pregnant. It generally includes a pre-conception risk assessment for any potential complications of pregnancy as well as modifications of risk factors, such as increasing folic acid intake to reduce the risk of neural tube defects and counseling on smoking cessation, alcohol reduction, and medications that may compromise fetal development.Physicians, midwives and baby experts recommend that a woman visit them as soon as the woman is contemplating having a child, and optimally around 3 to 6 months before actual attempts are made to conceive. This time frame allows a woman to better prepare her body for successful conception (fertilization) and pregnancy, and allows her to reduce any health risks which are within her control. Agencies such as the March of Dimes[3] have developed screening tools that healthcare providers can use with their patients. In addition, obstetricians or midwives (see Obstetrics, Midwifery, General Practitioner) have developed comprehensive check-lists and assessments for the woman who is planning to become pregnant.

A high-risk pregnancy is one of greater risk to the mother or her fetus than an uncomplicated pregnancy. Pregnancy places additional physical and emotional stress on a woman’s body. Health problems that occur before a woman becomes pregnant or during pregnancy may also increase the likelihood for a high-risk pregnancy.The NICHD is one of many federal agencies working to improve pregnancy outcome, prevent high-risk pregnancy, and improve health outcomes for pregnant women who are at high risk. The NICHD supports and conducts research on the causes and optimal management of the high-risk pregnancy.