Health experts have identified antenatal care as a critical factor in ensuring safe pregnancies and healthy childbirth for women and babies, emphasising its importance in reducing preventable maternal and newborn complications.

They spoke in interviews on Monday in Abuja.

They said that despite global advancements in healthcare, many women still experienced preventable pregnancy complications due to late or inadequate access to medical services.

According to them, antenatal care provides routine checkups that help monitor the health of both mother and unborn child, enabling early detection and management of conditions such as high blood pressure, anaemia, infections, and gestational diabetes.

Charles Umeh, a gynaecologist at Charles Healthcare Hospital, Suleja, said antenatal visits were essential for monitoring pregnancy progress and ensuring early intervention where complications arose.

He said, “My wife is one of my biggest achievements when it comes to participating in the antenatal clinic because she sees it as a waste of time, especially since she is married to a doctor.”

He added that antenatal care allowed early detection of health conditions that could be treated or managed effectively when identified early.

A retired midwife, Maryam Isah, said antenatal care remained an essential preventive service that improved maternal and newborn survival when properly accessed by expectant mothers.

She said women who attended antenatal clinics were more likely to deliver in safer environments under the supervision of skilled health professionals, reducing the risk of maternal and newborn deaths.

She said, “As a retired midwife and only child of my parents in the medical line, I had to educate my younger sisters and my brothers’ wives on antenatal care before they fully accepted it.”

Sharing her experience, Rashida Lawal, a mother of seven, said she initially avoided antenatal care and did not attend clinics for most of her earlier pregnancies.

She said, “Since 1999, when I got married, I had my first child without any antenatal care service, and likewise, the second till the sixth child.”

Ms Lawal, however, said her perception changed after her sixth child was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, which made her appreciate the importance of antenatal care before her last pregnancy.

Public health campaigns continue to emphasise early booking and consistent antenatal visits, while experts urge families and communities to support pregnant women in accessing care, describing antenatal services as lifesaving. 

(NAN)