Regular Doctors Check-Ups During Pregnancy
What are prenatal visits?
The care that you receive from your doctor or midwife during your pregnancy are prenatal visits. Regular check-ups throughout the 40 weeks of pregnancy will help to keep you and baby healthy, identify problems if they occur, and prevent difficulties during delivery.
Don’t just go to your doctors visits, become a partner with your doctor to manage your care. Keep all of your appointments, each one is important. Ask questions and read information to educate yourself!
The First Doctor’s Visit During Pregnancy
When visiting your doctor or midwife for the first time, you will probably have a pelvic exam to check your uterus (womb) and have a Pap test. Additionally, some doctors use an ultrasound machine to perform an ultrasound to check whether the pregnancy is ectopic (meaning “out of place”). Normal pregnancies occur when the fertilized egg is implanted inside the uterus; while ectopic pregnancies occur when a fertilized egg has implanted outside the uterus.
Other things to expect during the first pregnancy doctor’s appointment are:
- Your approximate due date
- Talking about your health history including previous pregnancies or abortions
- Talking about the health history of family members
- Determining whether you have any pregnancy risk factors based on your age, your health and health history, as well as the health history of your family
- Complete blood tests, including HIV testing and genetic tests
After the first visit, most prenatal visits will include:
- Checking the baby’s heart rate
- Checking your blood pressure
- Checking your urine for signs of protein in the urine (which could signal preeclampsia)
- Measuring your weight gain
Regular Check-ups
Your doctor of midwife will give you a schedule of your prenatal visits. An average pregnancy lasts 40 weeks and you can expect to see your doctor more often as you approach the end of the pregnancy. A typical schedule includes visiting your doctor or midwife:
- About once each month during your first six months of pregnancy
- Every two weeks during the seventh and eighth month of pregnancy
- Weekly in the ninth month of pregnancy
If you pregnancy is considered high risk due to being over the age of 35 or because you have other health problems like diabetes or high blood pressure, your doctor will probably want to see you more often.
