Antenatal care

This quality standard covers the routine antenatal care that women and their babies should receive during pregnancy. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.

It does not cover the care and management (beyond identification and referral) of specific physical conditions, mental health conditions and antenatal complications. These are covered by other NICE quality standards on diabetes in pregnancy, intrapartum care: existing medical conditions and obstetric complications, antenatal and postnatal mental health, ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, multiple pregnancy: twin and triplet pregnancies, hypertension in pregnancy, preterm labour and birth and caesarean birth.

Last reviewed: 14 February 2023

This quality standard was updated and replaced the previous version published in September 2012. The topic was identified for update following the annual review of quality standards. The review identified:

• changes in the priority areas for improvement.
• updated NICE guidance on antenatal care.

For more information, see update information.

Using inclusive language in healthcare is important for safety, and to promote equity, respect and effective communication with everyone. This quality standard does not use inclusive language because it is not used in the majority of the source guidance used in its development. However, the statements in this quality standard may also apply to pregnant trans men and non-binary people.

How to use NICE quality standards and how we develop them

Quality standards help you improve the quality of care you provide or commission. They apply in England and Wales (see the UK government website and Welsh government website). Decisions on how they apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland are made by ministers in the Scottish government and Northern Ireland Executive.

Find out how to use quality standards and how we develop them.