Shortly after learning you’re pregnant, you’ll need to see a doctor to ensure you and your baby are healthy and developing properly. Beginning with your first appointment, and continuing throughout your pregnancy, you’ll undergo lots of tests to be sure everything is going smoothly.
If your doctor talks about a “prenatal panel,” she’s referring to a group of tests that will be given at the start of your pregnancy. Results will provide your doctor with a profile of your health. It will be referred to again and again as your pregnancy progresses. Obstetrician/gynecologist Charles Hageman, MD, explains why the panel is important.
The prenatal panel includes your blood type, your blood count, and your status on if you’re immune to rubella (measles) or not. There are several infectious tests we check: syphilis, gonorrhea, Chlamydia, HIV is optional. We’re trying to get a good medical background on the start of this pregnancy.
Your prenatal panel is just one part of your first appointment with your doctor. Dr. Hageman describes what else you can expect.
What can I expect during my first prenatal appointment?
When a lady seeks out prenatal care, she trusts us to provide the best pre-natal care that we can provide. That involves listening to her story, gathering a history, doing a physical exam and to a certain degree ordering particular tests. The tests are reflection of her health and the baby’s health. From the first appointment we want to know some real basic information: are you pregnant; how many babies are there and where is the baby located. That’s where the ultrasound can help. We like to smile and say you have one baby, it’s in the uterus and there’s the heartbeat. That’s great information. That starts the prenatal care out on the right note.
As the soon-to-be mom, you also have an important role to play in caring for your unborn baby. Obstetrician/gynecologist Gregory Siewny, MD, explains.
Prenatal care is an encompassing change in a person’s life in that it involves seeing your physicians on a lot of visits, it involves a lot of lab tests, it involves ultrasound which is one of the most fun tests you’ll ever have in your life. There is a lot of patient responsibility. It’s eating correctly It’s not smoking. We used to tell people they could have moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy. That is now absolutely taboo, zero tolerance for alcohol during pregnancy; it causes problems. Nobody can guarantee that your child will be perfect in life so what you do is your best every moment of time every day of your life and then the next day your do your best again which is how I practice medicine. There’s about a 4 million deliveries a year in America right now and one-third of those pregnancies have complications. They may be major, they may be minor but you want to have a doctor at a hospital you trust, that you can bond with and you really feel good about. We have that here in our hospital.
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