British Columbia Perinatal Health Program

Whats the difference between prenatal and perinatal?

or is there no difference.I have to the hospital for my sonograms and its called the perinatal floor and when I go to the doctors its called a prenatal check up. Everytime I go to the doctors I forget to ask.Just curious. I have been going to the perinatal unit since I was 11 weeks

Public Comments

1. Perinatal means any time five months before the birth to one month after birth. Prenatal means any time before birth.
2. 'pre' usually means before and 'peri' is between so in this instance I should imagine it's the perinatal floor because it is between pregnancy and giving birth but it's a prenatal check-up because your are 'before' giving birth.
3. The perinatal period commences at 22 completed weeks (154 days) of gestation and ends seven completed days after birth. Prenatal care refers to the medical care recommended for women before and during pregnancy.
4. Prenatal- referring to pregnancy, time prior to giving birth Perinatal- referring to the period surrounding the time of birth (20 weeks gestation, to the 28th day after birth).