Planning antenatal services to meet women's psychological needs

Abstract

This article considers alternative ways of providing antenatal services, and discusses how well these alternatives might meet women's psychological needs in pregnancy. These alternatives include individualized or flexible antenatal visit schedules, drop-in clinics, telephone advice, targeted care, antenatal groups and home visits. The alternatives are examined in the light of findings from the Antenatal Care Project (a randomized controlled trial comparing two schedules of antenatal visits). Finally, the question of whether reducing the quantity of antenatal visits would increase in quality is addressed.