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Antenatal care during your pregnancy

8-minute read

Key facts

  • Antenatal care is the appointments you have with a doctor or midwife during your pregnancy.
  • Antenatal care helps keep both you and your baby healthy.
  • Routine scans and tests are part of your antenatal care.
  • You will need to give informed consent for any tests and procedures.

What is antenatal care?

Once your pregnancy is confirmed, it’s important to see your doctor or a midwife as soon as possible. They will help you to plan the appointments you will need during pregnancy. Appointments during your pregnancy are called your antenatal appointments or antenatal care.

Antenatal care is offered during pregnancy to help support your wellbeing and the health of your baby.

Why go to antenatal appointments?

Antenatal care allows your doctor or midwife to help you and your baby stay healthy. Even if your pregnancy is going well, it’s important to have antenatal care. This helps your healthcare team identify and manage any risks.

You will be offered recommended antenatal tests. You can decide whether you would like the tests or not. This is called informed consent.

Antenatal appointments are a great chance to ask questions about your pregnancy such as:

You can also get support to help you with your lifestyle, including:

You may want to talk about any problems you are having at home.

FIND A HEALTH SERVICE — The Service Finder can help you find doctors, pharmacies, hospitals and other health services.

Who will I see at my antenatal appointments?

You may want to see your own doctor first. You may then chose a midwife or obstetrician. It’s up to you.

It’s important to find healthcare professionals that you feel comfortable with. You will be working together to make decisions about your care.

It can also depend on whether you’re planning to give birth at a public hospital. If so, it’s likely that you will see a doctor or midwife at the hospital.

If you’re planning to give birth at a birth centre, you will probably have appointments with the midwife at the birth centre.

If you intend to have your baby at a private hospital, your appointments will most likely be with your obstetrician in their rooms.

If you’re planning to have a home birth, your antenatal care will probably be provided by a midwife. This may happen in your home, the hospital or elsewhere in the community.

What will happen during antenatal care appointments?

The antenatal care you get throughout your pregnancy depends on:

Your doctor or midwife will ask you questions, such as:

They will also ask you about your home and work environments and what support you have. If you are experiencing family violence, this is a good opportunity for you to discuss it.

They will also arrange a number of checks, scans, tests, such as:

  • ensuring you are up to date with cervical screening
  • making sure your mental health is OK, and supporting you if you have depression or anxiety
  • checking your blood pressure and weight and testing your urine
  • organising blood tests and screening
  • feeling and measuring your tummy, and listening to the baby's heartbeat

Find out more about the checkups, scans and tests you might have during your pregnancy.

Later in your pregnancy they will:

Checkups, scans and tests during pregnancy - promo tile
For more information on checkups, test and scans during pregnancy.

GLOSSARY OF PREGNANCY AND LABOUR — Glossary of common terms and abbreviations used by health professionals in pregnancy and labour.

How many antenatal appointments will I have?

If this is your first pregnancy and you’re not having any problems, you’ll likely have about 8 to 10 appointments. Your doctor or midwife will give you an appointment plan during your first antenatal visit.

If you have had previous uncomplicated pregnancies, you’ll probably have 7-9 antenatal appointments.

The number of visits can change depending on whether your pregnancy becomes complicated. If it does, your midwife or doctor may need to increase the number of appointments you have. You may also need more tests and scans.

You can also organise to see your doctor or midwife if you have any problems or concerns.

Can my partner come along too?

Yes. It’s a good idea for your birth support partner, family member or friend to come to your appointments with you. Especially if you are discussing your birth plan and how you want them to support you during the birth.

Resources and support

The Royal Women’s Hospital has a range of pregnancy fact sheets in several languages. They also offer videos explaining what to expect at your pregnancy appointments.

Find more resources at The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Resource Hub.

If you have any questions about antenatal care or concerns about your pregnancy, speak to:

  • your doctor
  • your midwife
  • the hospital where you're planning to give birth

Speak to a maternal child health nurse

Call Pregnancy, Birth and Baby to speak to a maternal child health nurse on 1800 882 436 or video call. Available 7am to midnight (AET), 7 days a week.

Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content.

Last reviewed: May 2024


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Need more information?

Your first antenatal visit

If you are pregnant, find out when to have your first antenatal care visit and what will happen at the appointment with your doctor or midwife.

Read more on Pregnancy, Birth & Baby website

Antenatal Care during Pregnancy

Once you are pregnant, your first antenatal appointment will ideally take place when you are about 6 to 8 weeks pregnant.

Read more on RANZCOG - Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists website

Checkups, tests and scans available during your pregnancy

Antenatal care includes several checkups, tests and scans, some of which are offered to women as a normal part of antenatal care in Australia.

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Pregnancy at week 7

Your baby is now about 1cm long and if you haven’t seen your doctor yet, now is a good time to start your antenatal care.

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Routine antenatal tests

During pregnancy, you'll be offered various blood tests and ultrasound scans. Find out what each test can tell you about you and your baby's health.

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Checkups, scans and tests during pregnancy

Handy infographic that shows what you can expect and what you might be offered at each antenatal appointment during your pregnancy.

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Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Workers provide culturally safe and appropriate care during and after pregnancy.

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Pregnant women in Victoria can choose who will care for them during their pregnancy, where they would like to give birth and how they would like to deliver their baby.

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In pregnancy, the challenges of being overweight can easily become magnified, placing both mothers and their babies at increased risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Assessing gestational weight gain, therefore, should be an important part of routine antenatal care.

Read more on Ausmed Education website

What does an obstetrician do?

Obstetricians are specialists in pregnancy and birth. Learn more about how to choose one and the costs involved in having a private obstetrician.

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Call us and speak to a Maternal Child Health Nurse for personal advice and guidance.

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