Prenatal care: 1st trimester visits

Prenatal care: 1st trimester visits

pregnancy and prenatal care go hand in hand. During the first clean-cut, prenatal care includes blood tests, a physical examination, conversations about life style and more .By Mayo Clinic Staff
Prenatal care is an authoritative contribution of a healthy pregnancy. Whether you choose a kin doctor, obstetrician, midwife or group prenatal care, here ‘s what to expect during the first few prenatal appointments.

The 1st visit

equally soon as you think you ‘re pregnant, schedule your first gear prenatal appointment. Set apart time for the first gear visit to go over your medical history and talk about any risk factors for pregnancy problems .

Medical history

Your health care provider might ask about :

• Your menstrual cycle, gynecological history and any past pregnancies
• Your personal and family medical history
• Exposure to potentially toxic substances
• Medication use, including prescription and over-the-counter medications or supplements
• Your lifestyle, including your use of tobacco, alcohol and caffeine
• Travel to areas where malaria, tuberculosis, the Zika virus or other infectious diseases are common

share data about medium issues, such as domestic abuse, abortion or by drug use, excessively. This will help your health concern supplier take the best worry of you — and your baby .

Due date

Your due date is not a prediction of when you will deliver. It ‘s just the date that you will be 40 weeks meaning. few women give parentage on their due dates. still, establishing your ascribable date — or estimated go steady of delivery — is important. It allows your health care provider to monitor your baby ‘s increase and the advance of your pregnancy, equally well as schedule tests or procedures at the most appropriate times .
To estimate your due date, your health care provider will use the date your last time period started, add seven days and reckon back three months. The due date will be about 40 weeks from the first day of your last period. Your health wish provider can use a fetal sonography to help confirm the date .

Physical exam

Your health care supplier will typically check your blood press, measure your weight and height, and calculate your body mass index to determine the recommend weight profit you need for a healthy pregnancy .
Your health manage supplier might do a physical examination, including a breast examination, pelvic examination, and screening exams of your heart, lungs and thyroid gland. You might need a Pap test to blind for cervical cancer american samoa well, depending on how long it ‘s been since your last screen .

Lab tests

At your first prenatal visit, blood tests might be done to :

• Check your blood type. This includes your Rh status. Rhesus (Rh) factor is an inherited trait that refers to a specific protein found on the surface of red blood cells. Your pregnancy might need special care if you’re Rh negative and your baby’s father is Rh positive.
• Measure your hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is an iron-rich protein found in red blood cells that allows the cells to carry oxygen from your lungs to other parts of your body, and to carry carbon dioxide from other parts of your body to your lungs so that it can be exhaled. Low hemoglobin or a low level of red blood cells is a sign of anemia. Anemia can cause you to feel very tired and may affect your pregnancy.
• Check immunity to certain infections. This typically includes rubella and chickenpox (varicella) — unless proof of vaccination or natural immunity is documented in your medical history.
• Detect exposure to other infections. Your health care provider will suggest blood tests to detect infections such as hepatitis B, syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. A urine sample might also be tested for signs of a bladder or urinary tract infection.

Screening tests for fetal abnormalities

prenatal tests can provide valuable information about your baby ‘s health. Your health caution supplier will typically offer a diverseness of prenatal familial riddle tests, which may include sonography or blood tests to screen for sealed fetal genetic abnormalities, such as Down syndrome .

Lifestyle issues

Your health care provider might discuss the importance of nutriment and prenatal vitamins. Ask about exercise, sex, dental care, vaccinations and travel during pregnancy, vitamin a well as other life style issues. You might besides talk about your work environment and the use of medications during pregnancy. If you smoke, ask your health care supplier for suggestions to help you quit .

Normal discomforts of pregnancy

You might notice changes in your body early in your pregnancy. Your breasts might be bid and well up. nausea with or without vomiting ( dawn nausea ) is besides coarse. Talk to your health care provider if your dawn sickness is severe .

Other 1st trimester visits

Your adjacent prenatal visits — frequently scheduled approximately every four weeks during the first clean-cut — might be shorter than the first. Near the end of the inaugural spare — by about 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy — you might be able to hear your child ‘s heartbeat with a little device that bounces fathom waves off your pamper ‘s heart ( Doppler ) .
Your prenatal appointments are an ideal prison term to discuss questions or concerns. besides find out how to reach your health care provider between appointments. Knowing help is available can offer peace of mind .

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1. Lockwood CJ, et al. Prenatal care: Initial assessment. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed July 9, 2018.
2. Prenatal care and tests. Office on Women’s Health. https://www.womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/youre-pregnant-now-what/prenatal-care-and-tests. Accessed July 9, 2018.
3. Cunningham FG, et al., eds. Prenatal care. In: Williams Obstetrics. 25th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Education; 2018. https://www.accessmedicine.mhmedical.com. Accessed July 9, 2018.
4. Lockwood CJ, et al. Prenatal care: Second and third trimesters. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed July 9, 2018.
5. WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/maternal_perinatal_health/anc-positive-pregnancy-experience/en/. Accessed July 9, 2018.
6. Bastian LA, et al. Clinical manifestations and early diagnosis of pregnancy. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed July 9, 2018.

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