Pregnancy Health
First Trimester Visits
Gestational age (0 - 13w6d)
Schedule your visit at around 6-8wks of gestation
First Visit:
I. Routine Prenatal Labs
-Blood Type and Rh status
-Blood count CBC
-check for immunity (Rubella,Varicella and Hepatitis B.)
-Screening for infection (HIV, RPR, GC/CT and Urine Culture)
- Pap smear
- 1st trimester genetic screening (NIPT, Nuchal Translucency)
- Carrier Screening (CounsyL)
II. Physical Exam
III. Pregnancy Confirmation with Ultrasound
IV. You will be asked a series of Questions by your Provider
V. This is the time to ask Questions to your Provider.
Second Trimester Visits
Gestational age (14w - 27w6d)
Appointments scheduled approximately every 4wks
Second Trimester Visits:
second trimester genetic screening
anatomy ultrasound scan with specialist
check fetal movement
check for fetal heart rate
check weight and Blood Pressure
Check mother’s overall well being
Between 25wk-28wks you will be screened for diabetes ( 1hr glucose challenge test).
Third Trimester Visits
Gestational ages 28-40wks
Visits are every 4wks till 32wks then every 2wks till 36wks
And then every week till 40wks.
You may be offered flu vaccine during seasonal flu (December thru March)
You will be offered TDaP vaccine (whooping cough) between 28 -36wks to protect the baby from pertussis
You will be tested for GBS (Group B Strep) between 36wks
Your Provider will also ask you about contractions, fetal movement.
Check Fetal heart rate
Check Blood Pressure and weight
Check mother’s well being.
Rhogam given to Rh negative women at 28 weeks
Nutrition in pregnancy
- Food Cravings are common but not guaranteed: about 50 to 90 % of new mom have cravings.
- Some women wind up craving foods during pregnancy they didn’t like before.
- It’s also common to develop food aversions during pregnancy.
- Pica is a kind of pregnancy craving you should resist. In addition to ice and dirt, other nonfoods that pregnant women have been drawn to eat include clay, laundry starch, wax, or coffee grounds. It’s not uncommon, so don’t be embarrassed, but do talk to your doctor because these pregnancy cravings can rob you and your developing baby of the real food nutrition you both need.
FOODS TO LIMIT/AVOID DURING PREGNANCY
- Raw or undercooked meat, including beef, poultry and pork. This includes hotdogs and deli meat (like ham or bologna).
- Raw fish, especially shellfish
- Fish that can be high in mercury, like shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. Always check with your local health department before you eat any fish you catch yourself.
- Refrigerated pates, meat spreads or smoked seafood
- Raw or lightly cooked eggs or foods made with them. This includes cake batter and raw cookie dough
- Soft-scrambled eggs
- Unpasteurized juice or milk or any foods made with them
- Unpasteurized soft cheeses, such as brie, feta, Camembert, Roquefort, queso blanco, queso fresco and Panela
- Raw sprouts, especially alfalfa sprouts
- Herbal products, like pills and teas. Herbal products are made from herbs, which are plants used in cooking or medicine. We don’t know enough about herbal products to know if they’re safe to use during pregnancy. So it’s best not to use them while you’re pregnant.
- Nonfood items, like clay, starch, paraffin or coffee grounds. Tell your provider if you crave anything like this that’s not food.
exercise during pregnancy
If you’re healthy and you exercised before you got pregnant, it’s usually safe to continue your activities during pregnancy. Check with your provider to make sure.
These activities usually are safe during pregnancy:
- Walking.
- Swimming and water workouts.
- Riding a stationary bike.
- Yoga and Pilates classes. Tell your yoga or Pilates teacher that you’re pregnant.
- Low-impact aerobics classes.
- Strength training. Strength training can help you build muscle and make your bones strong. It’s safe to work out with weights as long as they’re not too heavy. Ask your provider about how much you can lift.
These activities are not safe during pregnancy:
- Any activity that has a lot of jerky, bouncing movements that may cause you to fall, like horseback riding, downhill skiing, off-road cycling, gymnastics or skating
- Any sport in which you can get hit in the belly, like ice hockey, boxing, soccer or basketball
- Any exercise that makes you lie flat on your back (after the third month of pregnancy), like sit-ups.
- Activities that can cause you to hit water with great force, like water skiing, surfing or diving
- Skydiving or scuba diving. Scuba diving can lead to decompression sickness. This is when dangerous gas bubbles form in your baby's body.
- Exercising at high altitude (more than 6,000 feet), unless you live at a high altitude.
- Activities that may make your body temperature too high, like Bikram yoga (also called hot yoga) or exercising outside on hot, humid days. It’s not safe for pregnant women because it can cause hyperthermia.
