Learning Objective

• Describe causes of maternal and infant mortality in Australia and explain how this has changed over time and the factors that have led to these improvements
• Describe the aims and main features of routine antenatal care as practiced in Australia
• Describe routine care for mothers and babies including postnatal checks, and universal neonatal screening
• Describe the main clinical features of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and list issues around diagnosis and management
• Discuss the purpose of child health checks such as the 3-4 year old health check
• Explain the role of positive parenting programs in relation to early childhood development

Maternal & Infant Mortality

• what are the main causes of maternal mortality (direct and indirect)?
• what is the current maternal mortality rate?
• how has this rate changed over time?
• what are the 3 main causes of infant mortality?
• why has infant mortality improved over time?
• what is the purpose of the national core maternity indicators (using LBW)?

Antenatal Care

• who provides antenatal care (public and private)?
• what are the 5 components of antenatal care?

Postnatal Care

• how is newborn screening done? what does it screen for?