Pregnancy is the most critical time period of a mother’s life. On the other hand, the whole world depends on pregnancy and motherhood. However, there is an increase in maternal morbidity and mortality in Sri Lanka and also in other countries. The reason is the poor access to prenatal care. Especially this is the main problem in a country like Sri Lanka, where poverty is increasing rapidly. The poor people don’t have enough access to visit a specialist doctor and use necessary medicines regularly. Also, they don’t know how to care for pregnancy time. Due to this lack of pregnancy care access and expertise, their pregnancy time becomes malnourished and unhealthy. It leads to maternal morbidity and mortality.

Why is pregnancy care important?

Hearing the news of being pregnant is happy news. The important part is what comes next. When you are a first-time mom- things become a bit harder. As mentioned pregnancy period is vital for both the mother and the infant. In those times, there were many rules to follow. Sometimes they may differ from one mother to another according to their reactions. It is a matter that makes many urgencies need a doctor whenever a mother needs advice. The following may show the steps and the importance of prenatal care.

Early prenatal care

What is prenatal care? You may know or not, and it doesn’t matter. Simply it is an addition of love, care, treatments, and the attention you receive during pregnancy. When it comes to medical health, usually, you must seek medical advice once you find out you are pregnant. You must make an appointment with a VOG and discuss the plan. The doctor will ask you when you should come next and prescribe the necessary medicines. Otherwise, the doctor recommends essential exercises, pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, and everything. The doctor will direct you to the required healthcare checkups as a part of pregnancy care while the doctor schedules the next visit on the most important date. Attending these clinic visits regularly throughout your pregnancy time reduces the risk of pregnancy and birth complications. Meanwhile, it is the most effective way to catch potential concerns early and take the necessary steps.

Usual visits

You choose to see your doctor frequently and regularly throughout your pregnancy. However, the ordinary and standard way of scheduling a first prenatal appointment is when the pregnancy is at least 8 weeks old. For pregnancies without complications, prenatal visits are usually scheduled as follows:

• Up to week 28: 1 prenatal visit a month
• Weeks 28 to 36: 1 prenatal visit every 2 weeks
• Weeks 36 to 40: 1 prenatal visit every week

However, your doctor may need to see you more often, depending on your overall health. The situation may differ when pregnant mothers have preexisting chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, etc. She will need more doctor advice frequently as a part of pregnancy care. Even when a mother develops these conditions during pregnancy, she requires specialist advice often.

Importance of telemedicine in pregnancy care

The above paragraph explains why it is essential to have frequent doctor visits, advice, medicine, and healthcare checkups during pregnancy. But mothers have many more inabilities to obtain these facilities even in a family with high income and living in a developed country. The reasons are very familiar to Sri Lankans with the ongoing crises. When they are getting advice, they must travel to a doctor and pay a hospital charge in addition to the doctor’s charge. So, people in rural areas may have to travel a significant distance, and families in urban areas who spend a busy life must allocate a couple of hours. As a result, there is a likelihood of severe maternal morbidity/mortality in both rural and urban areas. 

One-tap doctor scheduling

Telemedicine is proposed to improve the effectiveness of quality pregnancy care with easy one-tap doctor scheduling at home. Once the news of pregnancy is heard, the patient has to log in to the Deedmed Lives telemedicine platform and search for a doctor by name or position. Then there is only one tap to schedule the doctor at a convenient time and discuss the pregnancy plan. So, your pregnancy care plan proceeds further. 

Just in case of an emergency

The pregnancy period is full of emergencies. In an emergency, you can make an appointment with a doctor and meet him within minutes without hassle. 

Fewer charges applied

Fewer charges are applied than visiting doctors at channeling centers due to fewer physical facilities being used. The doctor can work at home, and the patient can see the doctor.

Less traveling

Otherwise, the patient will not have to spend any traveling costs and may have less fatigue, enhancing comfort.

Doorstep medicine delivery

Once the doctor prescribes, the mother can easily send the prescription to the nearest pharmacy. Since pregnant mothers need regular medicines and nutritional supplements, they can order the necessary products every month and get them delivered to their homes quickly.

How does telemedicine work in pregnancy care?

Besides providing doctor scheduling opportunities, telemedicine can be used for many value-added services in pregnancy care. Some of them are as follows.

At home monitoring

Pregnant women with diabetes and high blood pressure can easily monitor through telemedicine. It allows them fewer disease control visits and improves health-related quality of life. Many studies have proven results of achieving sugar control goals via telemedicine during pregnancy. Hypertension is also something that becomes a major problem during pregnancy period. Patients can practice and involve in checking their blood pressure at home and improve real-time pregnancy care with telemedicine.

Lactation support

Deedmed Lives allows patients with breastfeeding difficulties can easily participate in necessary awareness programs. With video conferencing telelactation programs, they can chat with consultants and participate in virtual visits. This can offer benefits beyond in-person care, allowing for greater convenience, eliminating travel costs, and more timely service delivery within minutes or hours when the need arises.