You’ll get an estimated due date and have time to ask questions and discuss any concerns. At your first visit, your provider will take your medical history, conduct a pelvic and breast exam, a Pap test, and various blood and urine tests. What should you do now? “Book your first prenatal appointment as soon as you get a positive result on your home pregnancy test,” says Dr. There they are: the two blue lines you’ve been hoping for. First Trimester (Weeks 0-13) Stop #1: First Prenatal Visit (6-10 Weeks) OB/GYN Emily Slutsky, MD, Director of the Women’s Health Medical Genetics Division at Jersey City Medical Center (JCMC), maps out some of the important stops on your pregnancy journey. Be sure to ask questions or voice concerns to your provider at each prenatal visit. Then, your appointments will be every two weeks until 36 weeks, and once a week thereafter.

And while there can be twists and turns along the way, there are a few regular checkpoints on your route to help you navigate your pregnancy safely and keep you on course.Įach pregnancy is different, but, generally speaking, you’ll visit with your provider, whether you choose an OB/GYN or a midwife, every four weeks until your 28th week. Pregnancy is a 10-month journey-yes, 10 months, not nine, because gestational age is calculated from the last menstrual period (LMP) through delivery, which averages 40 weeks. If you are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, you will be placed under the care of a consultant and a specialist diabetes team to support you and keep you well throughout your pregnancy.Here's how to stay on course during your pregnancy journey. You will then be given a special glucose drink, and another blood sample will be taken two hours later. This includes not smoking, using chewing gum or taking any medication (unless its clinically necessary). The first blood sample will be taken in the morning, when you have had nothing to eat or drink overnight or the morning of the test. The glucose tolerance test (GTT) takes about two hours. Alternatively, you might be given a blood sugar monitor so that you can check your sugar levels yourself during your pregnancy. If it’s negative, the test will be repeated later in the pregnancy. If you’ve had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy, you’ll be given the test earlier. The test is usually done between 24-28 weeks. At your booking appointment your midwife will have asked you questions to assess whether you are at risk of developing gestational diabetes and referred you for the test if necessary. Some women will also need a glucose tolerance test (GTT) to screen for gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy). It’s difficult to detect a baby’s heartbeat in the first trimester, so in some cases you may be recommended to await your anomaly scan before we listen into the baby’s heartbeat at your antenatal clinic appointments.

Your midwife or doctor may also offer to try to hear your baby’s heart beating during your antenatal appointments. They will also help with any concerns or questions you have. Your midwife or doctor will give you information about the ultrasound anomaly scan you will be offered at 18-20 weeks. If this shows that the baby’s blood group is rhesus negative you will not need the Anti-D injections. We can now offer you a further blood test to check the baby’s blood group at this appointment. If negative, your midwife will talk to you about this and offer to book you in for Anti-D injections. The blood test you had at that appointment will confirm whether your blood is rhesus positive or rhesus negative. At this appointment your midwife or doctor will talk through the results of screening tests that took place between weeks 11-14.

Pregnancy doctor visits week by week