The bottom of a woman’s antenatal card carries two blocks: Programme schedule, which says what the dating suggests is due, and Programme doses, the ledger of what was actually given.
This records a dose; it does not give one
The dialog says it plainly: “This records the dose against the pregnancy. It does not give the drug or draw stock.”
A dose given at your hospital is given the normal way — through a screen that draws the stock and records the lot. This ledger then says which pregnancy, which programme, which position in the series and points back at that administration. A dose given somewhere else is recorded as reported, with nothing to point at.
There are three ways a dose can have been given here, and all three end at the same place — a record for the ledger to point at:
Give it now, from stock was added because there was no way to record IPTp-SP or iron and folate as given here at all. They are not vaccines, and the woman receiving them has no bed — so neither of the other two routes fitted her, and the only remaining option said the dose came from another facility, which was not true.
Read the Programme schedule
Three lines, each with its own state and its own reason in plain words.
Iron and folate is supply, not a dose series. The ledger records what was issued, never what was taken — nothing in the product knows whether she swallowed them. The block says so: “Supply is what was recorded as issued, not what was taken. Advisory only.” Do not read Supplied as adherence.
Cannot say is not the same as up to date. It means the pregnancy has no usable dating, so no schedule can be derived at all — correcting the due date is what fixes it. The whole block is advisory: it is a prompt to a clinician, not a finding.
Record a dose
Select Record dose
It sits at the top right of the Programme doses block, and is absent if you do not hold the permission.
Choose the Programme
IPTp (malaria prevention) · Tetanus toxoid · Iron and folate · ART · Infant nevirapine · Other.
Give its position in the series
Dose number — “Its position in the series — TT-2, IPTp-3. Leave blank if it isn’t known.” The field is not offered for Iron and folate or ART, which are issued rather than numbered.
Set the Date given
Today or earlier. A future date is refused.
Say where it was given
Where it was given offers Given at this clinic or Reported from another facility — “A dose given here must point at the administration that drew the stock.”
Point at the administration, if it was given here
Which administration drew the stock lists this woman’s own records — you choose one, you never type a reference. If she has none yet it reads No administration recorded for her yet, and the note below tells you what to do instead.A dose Reported from another facility is not asked for one, because it drew no stock here, and the form refuses one.
Select Record dose
It confirms Dose recorded — “It is linked to the administration that drew the stock”, or “Recorded as given at another facility.”
Give the dose from stock, here
Use this for a drug you are handing to a woman at clinic — IPTp-SP, iron and folate. It draws the dose from your stock against her name, records the lot, and hands the record straight to the ledger form.
Select Give it now, from stock
It sits under Which administration drew the stock, and only when Given at this clinic is selected.
Choose the Drug and the Dose
Drug searches your active medications. Dose is how many units leave the shelf — it must be greater than zero.
Choose where it comes Taken from
Taken from is the storage location the stock leaves. Lot defaults to Earliest expiry first, which is what you want unless you are deliberately using a particular lot.
Add Route, Site and Notes if they apply
All three are optional — PO, IM, a site, or a note such as directly observed.
Select Give the dose
It confirms Dose given — “Stock has been drawn and the lot recorded. It is not on the pregnancy’s ledger until you select Record dose.”You are returned to the ledger form with the new record already chosen in Which administration drew the stock.
Finish with Record dose
Set the Programme and Dose number, then select Record dose.
These are two acts, and the first one cannot be undone. Once Give the dose succeeds, the stock is gone and the lot is recorded — whatever happens next. If Record dose then fails, the block keeps the record selected and shows a standing notice: “Stock has already been drawn for this dose and the lot recorded. It is not on this pregnancy’s ledger until you select Record dose. Do not give a second dose if this step fails — select Record dose again.”Select Record dose again. Do not go back and give a second dose.
This needs stock set up. If your clinic has no medications or no active storage location in Inventory, the step says so plainly — “No medications are set up in this clinic’s stock, so a dose can’t be given from here” — rather than showing you an empty list. Set the item up under Inventory, or record the dose as Reported from another facility.If the list simply could not be loaded it says that instead — “The stock list could not be loaded, so it isn’t possible to say what is available” — with a Try again. An empty list and a failed read are never shown as the same thing.
Correct a dose recorded in error
Nothing here is deleted. A wrong dose is marked as entered in error, keeping the row, its reason and any administration it points at — and freeing its position in the series so the correct dose can be recorded.
Select Mark in error on the row
The dialog is headed Mark this dose as entered in error and names the dose and its date: it “will stop counting towards the series. The record is kept, along with any administration it points at.”
Answer Why is this wrong?
A reason is required — the button stays disabled until you write one.
Select Mark in error
It confirms Marked as entered in error — “The record is kept; the dose no longer counts towards the series.”
The row stays in the ledger, struck through and badged Entered in error, and stops counting on the Programme schedule block.
This is why a struck-through row matters. A midwife reading the ledger can tell “never given” from “given and retracted” — and that difference is the difference between giving a dose and double-dosing. Deleting the row would erase it.
What the ledger shows
With nothing recorded it reads No programme doses recorded for this pregnancy.
Who can do this
Recording and correcting share one permission on purpose: whoever may assert that a dose happened may assert that it did not.
Check it worked
- The dose is a row in the ledger with the right date and source.
- The matching line on Programme schedule moves — its count rises, and Due becomes Not due or Complete.
- A dose you marked in error is struck through, badged, and no longer counted.
If something goes wrong
Choose the administration that drew the stock, or give the dose from stock here first
Given at this clinic requires a real administration behind it — the one that drew the stock and recorded the lot. Choose one from the list, use Give it now, from stock, give it on the vaccine screen or the ward drug chart, or record this one as Reported from another facility.
Not enough stock available.
Give the dose could not draw what you asked for from Taken from. Check the location and the quantity, or receive stock first.
Say who the dose is for — an admitted patient or a patient of this clinic.
The dose reached the store without a patient attached. Close the dialog, reopen the woman’s antenatal card and try again.
That patient could not be found, or you do not have access to them.
The woman named is not a patient of this clinic, or you are not permitted to see her record. Open the dose from her own antenatal card.
A dose given elsewhere drew no stock here
You chose Reported from another facility but left an administration reference in the box. Clear it.
That dose in the series is already recorded for this pregnancy.
“Mark the existing one as entered in error if it is wrong.” Two doses cannot hold the same position in a series.
That administration is already recorded against a dose. One administration is one dose.
The reference you pasted is already claimed by another ledger row. Check you copied the right one.
That administration was given to a different patient.
“A dose can only be recorded against the woman it was given to.” You are on the wrong pregnancy’s card, or you copied another patient’s reference.
A dose can't be dated in the future.
Set Date given to today or earlier.
This pregnancy record is delivered, so no further doses can be recorded against it.
The record has been closed. Doses can only be added while it is open.
FAQ
Does recording a dose here take it out of stock?
Record dose never does. Give it now, from stock does — that is the whole difference between the two, and it is why they are separate steps with separate confirmations. The ledger points at a stock movement; it never causes one.
I gave the dose but Record dose failed. Should I give it again?
No. The stock has already been drawn and the lot recorded — giving it again would give a second dose and draw a second one. The block keeps the record selected and says so; select Record dose again.
Why is Give it now, from stock missing?
It appears only when Given at this clinic is selected, and only where the pregnancy record could name the woman. If it is absent, give the dose on the vaccine screen or the ward drug chart and choose it from Which administration drew the stock.
Why is there no Dose number for iron and folate?
Because it is supplied rather than given as a numbered series, and a position in a series would be a false precision. The same applies to ART.
Can I record ART or infant nevirapine?
They are in the Programme list and can be recorded on the ledger. The Programme schedule block derives IPTp, tetanus and iron-folate only, so those two carry no due state — and neither is printed on the downloadable antenatal card, which a woman carries to another facility. Does Supplied mean she is taking her iron?
No. It means a supply was issued and recorded. Adherence is not something the product can know, and it never claims to.
Can I edit a dose instead of marking it in error?
No. Mark it in error with the reason, then record the correct one — the series position is freed as soon as you do.