Sunday, May 5, 2013

The Advantages of Pre-natal Care: What Happens During Pre-natal Visits


When you go to any doctor regularly be sure you are comfortable with that doctor. Unless you really feel that this is a doctor you can trust - you will want to find another doctor as soon as possible. However, there are very wonderful doctors, nutritionists and even fitness instructors available for you to work with during your pregnancy.

When you receive pre-natal care for your unborn child, there are certain very important things that your doctor or doctors must consider.

1) The following are specific questions your doctor or nurse should ask you about medical history and about your pregnancy immediately in prenatal care:

o A good doctor will ask about details regarding the health of individuals in the families of both mother and father.

o With questions of family history, one should be as prepared as possible to go back into the family history of the fetus.

 When you are asked about family health and history the details should be complete. You should be asked about any diseases, any operations, any prior pregnancies, and other significant information.

 Although it is the hospital's responsibility, YOU must be sure that you make certain, before you visit a doctor, that you have all of the information you need to provide.

2) There should be procedures preformed right away when you become pregnant virtually immediately into your pre-natal care.

o A complete physical exam should be performed on the mother right away.

o There should be pelvic exam and Pap smear test performed as soon as you suspect you have become or have become pregnant.

o Any woman with a suspicion that she may be pregnant, as well as woman with knowledge of their pregnancy should receive regular blood and urine tests.

o In prenatal care your blood pressure, weight and height should always be checked upon each visit.

3) Upon a woman's first prenatal doctor's visit it is expected that you and your doctor will figure out your approximate due date.

4) Another very important thing that should happen on your first pre-natal visit is that there is time provided for you and your doctor to discuss any questions you may have.

o Doctor's visits for prenatal care subsequent to your initial visit are virtually always shorter. However, these visits will almost always include:

a) Checking the baby's heart rate and blood pressure

b) Checking urine samples for signs of diabetes

c) Measuring the mother's weight gain

o A doctor or midwife may actually order additional tests, ultrasounds, and screening exams.

5) As you grow older, the chances that birth defects will impair your children increase. Therefore, pre-natal care is especially essential and you will perhaps require additional prenatal care visits and certain treatments to prevent birth defects. As a matter of fact, many older women have had very healthy babies.

o If you are pregnant and thirty years old or more. I urge you to get the very best prenatal care for your baby.

There are many places that offer low - cost prenatal care if you are concerned about the expense of your prenatal visits. There are many clinics that will work with you on a sliding scale based on your income in order to pay for prenatal visits. Do not let financial burdens create and put you up against a wall, your child's health is too important to wave off the absolutely essential prenatal healthcare that he or she deserves.

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