Is routine antenatal care worth while?

An analysis of the rate at which asymptomatic problems are diagnosed, missed, and overdiagnosed in a total population of pregnant women attending specialists and general practitioners for antenatal care indicated that detection of some problems is incomplete and that overdiagnosis is common. The productivity of routine antenatal care in respect of prediction and detection of obstetric problems is extremely low, and it is suggested that the number of visits for this purpose could be considerably reduced for women without special problems.