Prenatal care is very important for the welfare of your baby. This is because there are a few complications related to pregnancy, which are seemingly harmless but end up harming the fetus drastically. This can lead to dire consequences for the baby. Hypertension and diabetes, for example, don’t show any symptoms most of the time. Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here
However, if they are not detected, the mother as well as the child will be at risk. Thus, you should make sure you start prenatal care as soon as you find out that you are pregnant.
So you’ve just found out you are pregnant after a short or long time trying to get pregnant. Congratulations! You’ll be wanting to make your first prenatal appointment with your doctor or midwife soon.
When you first go to the doctor during your pregnancy, your doctor will not just evaluate your health, but will also find out your due date so you can know baby’s birth month, and will tell you how to go through the pregnancy. You should listen carefully to everything she says and you should follow their guidelines strictly. An ultrasound can tell you the due date as can the information about your last period.
During this evaluation, prenatal care will also begin. Your doctor will check or ask you if you have any chronic problems such as depression or asthma. If you do, she will advice you about treatment during pregnancy.
Remember that the treatment usually is different from normal treatment so that your baby is not affected due to the medication. The doctor might also ask you to alter your lifestyle and diet, and to start exercising as needed. You should heed her advice for the safety of your child.
With the passing weeks, prenatal care will increase. You should be aware of the development and growth of your baby. Your doctor will determine that by measuring your abdomen (fundal height) and by checking the heart sounds of the fetus.
To be completely sure, you may need to go through ultrasounds and amniocentesis along with other tests to make sure that everything is fine and smooth with the baby. For example, under some circumstances the abdomen might not grow as expected.
The growth may be lagging or exceeding and in order to make sure that everything is fine, further tests may be required. Prenatal care also includes tests to determine genetic abnormalities. These tests are carried out in the second trimester, usually.
Along with your baby’s health, your health will be monitored. Blood tests and urine tests will be performed regularly to see if everything is normal and to detect any abnormality. From simple blood tests to complex testing, anything can be ordered based on the situation.
You might be tested for gestational diabetes in the second trimester. Around this time you will also be tested for hypertension. If these complications are detected earlier, everything can be taken care of. Delay in anything can harm your health and your baby’s development drastically.
In the third trimester, prenatal care will increase further. As the due date closes in, a constant watch is required to check if a C-section is a better option. Any complications during the final stages of pregnancy will also be detected through a series of tests. It is around this time that the mother will be tested for GBS or group B strep to avoid any complications.
Thus, prenatal care begins right from the time you know that you are pregnant. The earlier, the better. Prenatal care lowers the risks of many complications and problems.
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