Meaning & use
prenatal
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to the time before a baby is born, especially the care of a pregnant woman and her unborn child.
Grammar: Used before a noun: 'prenatal care'. Not usually used after a verb like 'be'.
Patterns
- prenatal care
- prenatal development
- prenatal checkup
She attends regular prenatal checkups at the clinic.
Good prenatal care can reduce the risk of complications during birth.
The study looked at prenatal development in the first three months.
Common combinations
- prenatal care
- Prenatal care is essential for the health of both mother and baby.
- prenatal checkup
- She scheduled her first prenatal checkup for next week.
- prenatal development
- Nutrition affects prenatal development.
- prenatal diagnosis
- Prenatal diagnosis can detect certain conditions before birth.
Synonyms and how they differ
- antenatal
- Antenatal is the usual British term for the same meaning; prenatal is more common in American English.
Opposites
Word family
- postnatal adjective
- Relating to the period after birth.
Commonly confused: prenatal or postnatal? prenatal or perinatal?
prenatal vs postnatal
Postnatal means after birth, while prenatal means before birth. They are opposites.
prenatal vs perinatal
Perinatal refers to the period around the time of birth, including just before and just after.
Practice
Which word best completes the sentence? 'The doctor recommended regular ______ care throughout her pregnancy.'
Choose one answer.
Prenatal care is the care a woman receives during pregnancy, before the baby is born. Postnatal care is after birth, perinatal is around the time of birth, and neonatal refers to the newborn baby.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prenatal”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.