Rationale

Optimal prenatal care has the potential to reduce perinatal morbidity and mortality by identifying and reducing potential risks, treating medical conditions, providing psychosocial support, and promoting healthier lifestyles.

Key Objectives

Provide prenatal care that integrates the best available evidence into a model of shared decision-making that enables patients to make informed decisions based on their needs in all aspects of preconception, pregnancy and fetal health.

Enabling Objectives

Given a patient who requires antepartum care, the candidate will

1. understand and apply the principles of informed decision-making and patient-centred care, including culturally sensitive issues;

2. provide care for preconception counselling (e.g., folic acid supplementation, weight management, smoking cessation);

3. establish the desirability of the pregnancy in a patient with suspected or confirmed pregnancy and construct an appropriate initial management plan;

4. provide initial and subsequent prenatal visits that include an appropriate history, physical examination, exploration of socioeconomic determinants of pregnancy outcome, counselling, and laboratory investigations;

5. identify risk factors and common antenatal complications (e.g., hypertension, maternal age, intrauterine growth restriction) and construct a plan for both the screening and initial management of these conditions.