Characteristics, Activities, and Counseling during Prenatal Care: A Descriptive Study

Objective: To describe the characteristics, activities, and counseling performed during prenatal care in Peruvian women. Materials and methods: A descriptive study was conducted on 17,244 women registered in the Peruvian Demographic and Family Health Survey. The variables corresponding to the activities, characteristics, and counseling performed during prenatal care were analyzed. The information was processed after weighting, stratification, and grouping by clusters of the database. Frequencies and percentages were calculated with 95% confidence intervals. Results: Around 82% of women had their first prenatal care before 14 weeks, and 91.2% attended 6 or more visits. The obstetrician (81.9%) provided this service the most, followed by the physician (39.9%) and the nurse (8.2%). Fetal heartbeat auscultation (99.9%) and weight measurement (99.7%) of the women were frequent. In addition, counseling on obstetric complications (100%) and where to receive professional assistance (98.6%) were the topics reported by the highest proportion of women, while women’s rights were less frequently addressed (80.5%). Conclusion: Most of the women had early, sufficient prenatal care performed by the obstetrician, and the measurement of the woman’s weight and the topic of obstetric complications were the most frequent procedure and counseling, respectively. Clinical significance: Prenatal care is a relevant maternal health service for the prevention, diagnosis, and timely treatment of maternal–fetal complications.