The importance of antenatal care cannot be underestimated. Antenatal care coverage, defined as a minimum of four antenatal care visits, has been used globally as a benchmark of performance of maternal health programmes, was included in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG),¹ and is key to goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, despite the recognition of the importance of initiation of antenatal care in the first trimester (known as early antenatal care), this provision has not been used as an indicator nor previously evaluated.

中文翻译：

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差距和挑战是对早期产前保健全球覆盖率进行首次分析的基础

产前保健的重要性不可低估。产前保健覆盖率定义为至少四次产前保健访问，已被全球用作衡量孕产妇保健计划绩效的基准，已被纳入千年发展目标（MDG）¹，是实现可持续发展目标3的关键目标。然而，尽管已经意识到在孕早期开始产前护理的重要性（称为早期产前护理），但该规定尚未用作指标，也未曾进行过评估。