Maternity/Prenatal Care

Maternity/Prenatal Care Services are are available in all 46 counties and 90 clinic sites. These services are provided as an continuing effort to improve pregnancy outcomes.

Several levels of care are available depending on the client's request for services, her risk status (i.e., diabetes, high blood pressure, STDs, etc.), and arrangements for provision of services within each county. The health department acts as the client's advocate to see that all pregnant women who apply for services receive risk appropriate care. The health department provides both supportive services and complete services to women.

Supportive Services are for those women who receive their prenatal care elsewhere and just come to the health department for WIC; private physicians (obstetricians or family practitioners) provide the actual medical care.

Complete Services are provided for those women who receive their prenatal care and postpartum services at the health department. Currently, only two (2) counties in South Carolina (Lee, Pickens) still provide complete prenatal care. All other counties in the state have been able to partner with private physicians for the medical care.

General Guidelines

Services under the Maternity/Prenatal Program are offered to women during their perinatal periods and emphasize primary and preventive care including health promotion and education.

Nutrition

Certain nutrients are considered more important than others in fetal development. Folate, or its synthetic form, folic acid, is a B vitamin that has been shown to help reduce the risks of birth defects of the spinal cord and the brain, otherwise known as the neural tube. Neural tube defects, including spina bifida, which is the most common defect, develop during the first 28 days of conception. Unfortunately, once you know you’re pregnant, it’s too late to do anything about neural tube defects. Because so many pregnancies are unintended, the U.S. Public Health Service recommends that all women of childbearing age consume at least 400 micrograms of folic acid every day. The good news is that the FDA has made it easier to reach that goal by requiring all flour products to be fortified with extra folic acid. You can also get folic acid by eating green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans, and citric acid.

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