The antenatal appointment schedule in Australia

What the schedule looks like

Antenatal care in Australia is set by the Pregnancy Care Guidelines, published by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. The guidelines recommend your first appointment happens within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, and that an uncomplicated first pregnancy needs about 10 visits, while a second or subsequent uncomplicated pregnancy needs about seven.

Those numbers are a guide, not a ration. If anything changes — blood pressure, growth, a twin pregnancy, gestational diabetes — you will be seen more often, and that is the system working as designed.

At every appointment

From the second visit onwards, each appointment should include:

• measuring your baby's growth
• checking your baby's heartbeat
• discussing your baby's movements
• measuring your blood pressure
• a urine test for protein if there are signs of pre-eclampsia

Your health professional should also discuss weight change, diet and physical activity.

Appointment by appointment

0 to 10 weeks — the first appointment

Contact your GP or health service as soon as you know you are pregnant. This is a long appointment. It should cover your date of conception and last menstrual period, your height and weight, blood pressure, and your options for pregnancy care — including where you will give birth and how many appointments you will need.

You should be offered blood tests for blood group and antibodies, anaemia, rubella, asymptomatic bacteriuria and sexually transmitted infections including HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhoea. You should be offered a dating ultrasound to be done between 8 and 14 weeks, and a combined screening test — blood test plus ultrasound — for chromosomal conditions such as Down syndrome.

Your risk of pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, gestational diabetes and thyroid dysfunction should be assessed. Supplements — folate, iodine, iron — and vaccinations including influenza, RSV and whooping cough should be discussed, along with your mental wellbeing.

16 to 19 weeks

Results of all your early pregnancy tests are discussed, and you are offered the fetal anatomy scan (also called the morphology scan) to be carried out at 18 to 20 weeks. This scan may also measure the length of your cervix.

20 to 27 weeks

You should be tested for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks. A urine test is done if you have signs of a urinary tract infection or raised blood pressure.

28 weeks

Screening for depression and anxiety symptoms, plus a blood test for anaemia and to recheck your blood group and antibodies. If you are rhesus-negative with no anti-D antibodies, you are offered an anti-D injection.

29 to 34 weeks

Your 28-week results are discussed. A second anti-D injection at 34 weeks is offered if you are rhesus-negative. This is also when preparation for labour begins: your birth plan, pain management, recognising the stages of labour, and conversations about skin-to-skin contact, early feeding, rooming-in, breastfeeding and safe formula feeding.

35 to 37 weeks

Your baby's position and how far the head has descended are assessed. You should be offered a test for Group B streptococcus if your hospital routinely tests. You should also get information on newborn screening tests, vitamin K for your baby, and postnatal support including maternal and child health services.

38 to 40 weeks

Position and descent are checked again, and you get information about the length of pregnancy and the onset of labour.

41 weeks and beyond

If you have not given birth by 41 weeks, expect an appointment to discuss options for inducing or encouraging labour.

Who provides your care

RANZCOG, the college covering both Australia and New Zealand, advises that all women see a health professional capable of assessing maternal and fetal risk by 10 weeks. It recommends symphysis-fundal height be measured and plotted at routine visits, that all women be offered an obstetric ultrasound before 20 weeks, that you be advised to sleep on your side from 28 weeks, and that a labour and birth discussion happen by 36 weeks.

Your model of care depends on where you live and what you choose: public hospital antenatal clinic, GP shared care, a midwifery group practice offering continuity with one known midwife, a birth centre, or a private obstetrician. Public antenatal care is covered by Medicare. Some appointments, scans and tests carry an out-of-pocket cost — the Department's guidance is explicit that your provider should discuss any charges with you in advance, and that you should ask if you are unsure.

If you cannot get to the recommended schedule

Distance, work, cost and caring responsibilities all get in the way. If the standard clinic pattern does not work for you, say so: GP shared care means most visits happen at your local practice, telehealth is available for some appointments, and rural and remote services run outreach clinics. Missing appointments is far worse than rescheduling them, because most of the schedule exists to catch problems — pre-eclampsia, growth restriction, gestational diabetes — that have no symptoms you would notice yourself.

If you are not eligible for Medicare, ask the hospital's maternity service about fees before booking. Public hospitals will still see you.

Where to get help

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing publishes the Pregnancy Care Guidelines and a plain-language pregnancy timeline fact sheet covering exactly what each appointment should include. Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (1800 882 436) is the national helpline, staffed by maternal child health nurses, seven days a week. Your GP, midwife or hospital antenatal clinic can arrange any of the tests above.