Antenatal care is the planned series of health checkups during pregnancy. At these visits, your clinician can review how you are feeling, check measurements such as blood pressure and discuss blood tests or ultrasound findings relevant to your stage of pregnancy. The visits also give you time to ask about changes you are noticing and prepare for appointments further along in pregnancy.

If this is your first antenatal visit, bring any available pregnancy test or ultrasound results, details of your medical history and a list of medicines and supplements. For a follow-up visit, take your antenatal record and any results collected since the last appointment. It helps to jot down questions beforehand, especially if you want to discuss work, travel or plans for delivery. Ask what the next visit will cover and whether any tests should be arranged in advance. Your clinician can adjust the schedule to suit your pregnancy.