The many disciplines concerned in antenatal care are anxious that the services available should reach all mothers and young children, where the reduction of perinatal mortality begins. Several aspects of antenatal care were discussed at the conference, with the overall view that all staff needed to be more sensitive to the patients they serve. Personal care, continuity of care and communication were important issues: there was a need to break down barriers in order to get information accepted, and to share the caring between the different branches of the service in the interests of the patient.