Focused Prenatal Care

A healthy start in life begins with a healthy pregnancy and birth.
At the UNC Family Medicine Center, we recognize that some women have a low risk for complications in their pregnancies and may find the traditional number of recommended prenatal care visits is too much for their busy schedules.  For these women, we offer Focused Prenatal Care, an option that reduces the number of clinic visits without reducing the quality of care.

In this busy world, it isn't always possible to accomplish everything you wish you could.  Time is a precious commodity and sometimes your family and work and life responsibilities make it impossible to put your needs first.  When you are pregnant, though, your prenatal care is important, too!  What's a woman to do?

At UNC Family Medicine, we know that there is clear evidence that it is not the number of prenatal care visits that matters, but the quality of care provided.  Therefore, we offer the Focused Prenatal Care option.  Like we do for traditional prenatal care, in a Focused Prenatal Care setting we limit the number of providers you will meet to a small team, so that the same providers who get to know you during prenatal care will be available to help you deliver your baby. We welcome your partner, your family, labor coaches, or other active participants into your birth experience.

Focused Prenatal Care consists of an initial intake visit with the prenatal nurse to review your medical history and to assess your current pregnancy.  To be considered for Focused Prenatal Care, you must have no history of significant complications in previous pregnancies or childbirths and you must have no generalized health problems that could complicate a pregnancy.  During the initial intake, the prenatal nurse will also determine whether or not there are any signs of complications with your current pregnancy.  If you qualify for the Focused Prenatal Care option, you will then have routine prenatal care visits with a clinician assigned to your team at 16, 20, 28, 35, 38, and 40 weeks of pregnancy (post-dates visits to be added as needed).

If complications arise later in your pregnancy, we will add additional visits to better monitor your pregnancy and we will work closely with you, your family, and any specialists at UNC Hospitals that might be needed to ensure a healthy and happy birth experience for you and your child.

To make an appointment, please contact our office at (919) 966-0210.

Or to learn more, please print our patient education brochure here.

To download a copy of our Prenatal Care Workbook, please click here.