Normal Pregnancy
Ob-Gyn care for a patient with a normal pregnancy involves regular checkups and monitoring to ensure both the mother and baby stay healthy throughout the pregnancy. Here’s what it generally looks like, step by step:
Initial Visit (First Trimester)
- Confirming Pregnancy: The first visit is typically when the pregnancy is confirmed, usually through a blood test or ultrasound.
- Health History: The doctor will ask about your medical history, any past pregnancies, lifestyle, and any health conditions you may have (like diabetes or high blood pressure).
- Physical Exam: They may do a general physical exam and check your weight, blood pressure, and height.
- Blood Tests and Screenings: These tests check for things like anemia, infections, or other conditions that might affect pregnancy. They may also check blood type and Rh factor.
- Prenatal Vitamins: You’ll be encouraged to start taking prenatal vitamins, especially folic acid, which helps prevent birth defects.
- Early Ultrasound: Sometimes, an early ultrasound is done to check the baby’s heartbeat and confirm the due date.
Routine Visits (Second and Third Trimester)
- Monitoring Baby’s Growth: During follow-up visits, your doctor will check how the baby is growing. This can include listening for the baby’s heartbeat with a Doppler, measuring your belly size to track baby’s growth, and sometimes doing ultrasounds.
- Blood Pressure and Weight: They’ll check your blood pressure regularly to make sure you don’t develop conditions like preeclampsia. Weight gain is also monitored.
- Urine Tests: These check for signs of infections, diabetes, or preeclampsia.
- Screening Tests: You may have tests like the glucose test to check for gestational diabetes, or genetic screening to look for birth defects. These may be optional, but are commonly recommended.
- Vaccinations: You’ll be encouraged to get certain vaccines, like the flu shot or the Tdap vaccine (to protect against whooping cough), to protect both you and the baby.
- Discussion of Birth Plan: As you approach the third trimester, you and your doctor may talk about your birth preferences (like pain relief, labor induction, or who will be in the room with you).
Final Weeks of Pregnancy (Late Third Trimester)
- Checking Baby’s Position: Your doctor will check if the baby is in the right position for birth (head-down) and assess if everything is progressing normally.
- Signs of Labor: You’ll discuss what signs to look for that labor might be starting (like contractions, water breaking, etc.).
- Pre-Labor Testing: Some women have tests like a Group B Streptococcus test (checking for bacteria that could affect the baby during birth) or checking for cervical changes as you get closer to labor.
- Delivery and Postpartum Care
- Delivery: When labor begins, you’ll go to the hospital, where your doctor will be there to help guide the birth. They’ll monitor both you and the baby during the process.
- Postpartum Checkup: After the baby is born, you’ll have a postpartum checkup (typically within 6 weeks). This checks how you’re healing, addresses any concerns you may have, and makes sure you’re adjusting well physically and emotionally to life after delivery.
Throughout the pregnancy, your doctor will provide advice on nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle to help you have a healthy pregnancy and reduce any risks. Normal pregnancy care is all about ensuring both the mother and baby are well-supported and monitored so that everything proceeds smoothly