Overview
Antenatal care is the systematic clinical care provided to women during pregnancy, comprising scheduled assessments, screening, counselling, and preventive interventions intended to monitor maternal and fetal health and to detect and manage complications early. Standard components include monitoring of blood pressure, weight, fetal growth, and presentation; screening for anaemia, infection, gestational diabetes, and pre-eclampsia; nutritional and micronutrient support; immunisation; and health education on danger signs, nutrition, and birth preparedness. Effective antenatal care is a cornerstone of efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality and to improve birth outcomes, particularly in low-resource settings. Research in this area examines the level and determinants of antenatal-care utilisation among pregnant women, the influence of access, education, and interventions such as mobile-phone communication on service uptake, and the integration of nutrition services and maternal-child health programmes into health systems. Allied work addresses teenage pregnancy, self-medication during pregnancy, breastfeeding determinants, intrauterine death, and quality-improvement approaches in maternal healthcare facilities. These studies collectively inform strategies to strengthen coverage, quality, and equity of pregnancy care. The journal publishes peer-reviewed research on antenatal and maternal care, service utilisation, and interventions to improve pregnancy and neonatal outcomes.
Research published in this journal
12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
How this research is being cited
The 12 articles above have been cited 23 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
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2025 · Maternal Health, Neonatology and Perinatology
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2025 · British Journal of Sociology of Education
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2025 · African Journal of Empirical Research
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2025 · British Journal of Sociology of Education
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2024 · Frontiers in Global Women's Health
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2024 · Frontiers in Global Women s Health
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Mooto Mutakatala et al. · 2023 · Journal of Maternal and Child Health
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2023 · Journal of Pregnancy
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Antenatal Care, linking to each citing work.