Importance of early pregnancy confirmation and antenatal care
By Cynthia Lodite, June 27, 2026Discovering that you are pregnant can bring a mix of emotions: joy, excitement, anxiety or uncertainty.
Once a home pregnancy test shows a positive result, the next important step is to confirm the pregnancy with a healthcare provider and begin antenatal care.
The World Health Organisation issued a new series of recommendations to improve the quality of antenatal care to reduce the risk of stillbirths and pregnancy complications and give women a positive pregnancy experience.
By focusing on a positive pregnancy experience, these new guidelines seek to ensure not only a healthy pregnancy for mother and baby, but also an effective transition to positive labour and childbirth and ultimately to a positive experience of motherhood.
According to the WHO, pregnancy-related deaths and diseases remain unacceptably high.
“In 2015, an estimated 303 000 women died from pregnancy-related causes, 2.7 million babies died during the first 28 days of life, and 2.6 million babies were stillborn,” WHO stated.
While substantial progress has been made over the past two decades, increased access to, and use of, higher-quality health care during pregnancy and childbirth can prevent many of these deaths and diseases, as well as improve women and adolescent girls’ experience of pregnancy and childbirth.
Globally, however, only 64 per cent of women receive antenatal care four or more times throughout their pregnancy.
The benefits of starting antenatal care early
Antenatal care is more than checking the baby’s growth. It is a comprehensive programme designed to support a healthy pregnancy from the beginning.
Regular check-ups allow healthcare providers to: Monitor the baby’s growth and development, check the mother’s blood pressure and weight, screen for infections and other medical conditions and detect complications early, when they are often easier to manage.
Women with chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, epilepsy or hypertension benefit greatly from early antenatal care.
Healthcare providers can review medications, monitor the pregnancy more closely and adjust treatment plans if necessary to reduce risks for both mother and baby.
Early pregnancy confirmation is the gateway to timely medical care, while regular antenatal visits provide ongoing support throughout every stage of pregnancy.
Together, they help identify risks, promote healthy habits and give babies the best possible start in life.