Every mother-to-be needs prenatal care, which is the regular healthcare you will receive during pregnancy from your doctor, midwife, or other healthcare professional.

Prenatal care should begin as early as possible, ideally even before you become pregnant (a preconception visit).

The goal of prenatal care is to monitor the progress of your pregnancy and check for any problems that may arise. Women who get prenatal care tend to have healthier babies, and are less likely to have pregnancy-related problems.

Your first pregnancy visit

You should schedule a prenatal appointment as soon as you realize you are pregnant. During this first visit, your doctor or midwife will talk to you about your and your partner’s personal and family health history, identify medical problems, and go through each medication you are taking.

This first visit will also include a physical examination, during which you will be weighed and your doctor or midwife will check your blood pressure and may do a pelvic examination/pap smear to check for cervical cancer and vaginal infections. You will provide blood and urine samples for a variety of tests, including tests for infections and anemia.

Your estimated due date will be determined and it will likely be recommended that you start taking a prenatal vitamin that contains at least 400 micrograms of folic acid, if you are not already.

Subsequent visits

After your first prenatal visit, you will schedule one prenatal visit per month from weeks 4-28 of your pregnancy. During weeks 28-36, you will schedule visits twice per month, and after week 36, you will see your healthcare provider every week.

At these visits, your healthcare provider will weigh you, check your blood pressure, measure and feel your growing abdomen, check for swelling, listen to your baby’s heartbeat (after week 12), and may perform blood tests, urine tests, and/or ultrasounds.

At each prenatal visit, you should bring up any questions or concerns you have.