Tips for healthy pregnancy

A woman enters the phase of motherhood through pregnancy. To be more precise a carefree, chirpy girl instantly transforms into a woman when she comes to know about the baby who has just started developing inside of her and the feeling is unfathomable. It is such a beautiful experience when you see those two little lines on the kit, the news for which you have been desperately longing. For a woman, it is a whole new phase of euphoria that strikes in, along with some bewildering thoughts that constantly haunt them about the challenges that they might encounter on this journey and the mere thought of the most wonderful encounter that inspires them to embark on the expedition and face challenges with a smile is yet to happen. Every woman’s pregnancy journey is different be it a newbie or a second-time mom, there are flushes of emotional changes and humungous bodily transformations that come along which may be inspiring for some and daunting for others.

When you are expecting there is a whole new routine that needs to be followed, so here is the typical process of how things unfold through this journey. By the time a woman misses her period, she is already 4 weeks pregnant although the conception has occurred only a week or two earlier. Therefore, generally, a woman becomes aware of the fact, that she is carrying a baby in her womb at the 2nd month of her pregnancy. Now a day’s taking a urine pregnancy test has come out in handy for depicting the results in mere 5 minutes, but it does not tell us about the viability and health status of the fetus, hence it is of utmost importance to schedule an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible to keep a check on the healthy growth and development of the fetus. This is how you must schedule your appointment and the process of how various appointments with your doctor must go:

At the first prenatal visit, the woman undergoes a physical examination as well as certain tests and screenings to assess the health of herself and the unborn baby. The patient needs to visit the doctor in the second month ( i.e., 2 or 3 weeks beyond missing the periods).

The ultrasound screening is done at 6-8 weeks, it is actually the dating scan that confirms the due date of the baby’s arrival. It rules out abnormal pregnancies such as ectopic pregnancy, wherein the egg implants in the fallopian tubes, or molar pregnancy both of which can be life-threatening to a woman if neglected. The sub-chronic bleeding (internal bleeding in the uterus, adjacent to the gestation sac) can also lead to intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR)/low birth rate. Hence, these should be diagnosed in early pregnancy so that timely management can be provided. Therefore, the first visit in the 2^nd month actually confirms whether the patient is in the low or high-risk category. If she is categorized in a high-risk category then extra attention and care must be given to sustain the risk of pregnancy. She might be put on hormonal therapy to keep up with treatment and ease pregnancy in later stages.

In addition to this, another follow-up performed by your doctor will be a test conducted for Rh factor during early weeks of pregnancy. Rh incompatibility comes in when the mother’s blood is Rh negative, the father’s blood is Rh positive and the fetus is Rh positive. If such a situation arises the mother might develop antibodies against the Rh-positive fetus, which may lead to anemia in the fetus, these problems are kept under thorough supervision, and adequate medical treatment is provided for the well-being of the unborn baby.

Also, there might be innumerable questions and thoughts racing in your mind regarding pregnancy and you feel that you need proper medical guidance to quench your thirst, so we are here to sort out all the queries and concerns that need discussion. It is a perfect opportunity for you to discuss any chronic medical condition you might be facing that may take a toll on your unborn baby’s health and your health too. The first-time prenatal visits can lucidly deal with your skepticism. It builds a pregnancy support network, diet plans for healthy and balanced diets, continuation of appropriate pregnancy exercises, and daily intake of prenatal vitamins that contain 400mg of folic acid that reduce the risk of neural tube defect.

Tags:- Obs & Gynae