Pregnancy office visits are important for a mother and her baby’s health

Pregnancy office visits with our Grapevine obgyns are the best way to ensure a healthy pregnancy, labor and delivery. Prenatal care allows our physicians to monitor a mother and her baby throughout pregnancy.

The basics of pregnancy office visits

Women with routine pregnancies will have regularly scheduled pregnancy office visits, but women with high-risk pregnancies need to see our Grapevine obgyns more often. The first office visit is the longest, and it usually occurs between week eight and 10 of pregnancy. Several things happen during this visit.

• Review of complete health history, including family health history, past illnesses, medical conditions, surgeries and pregnancies.
• A thorough physical examination that includes a Pap test and pelvic exam
• Lab work
• Calculation of the baby’s approximate due date.

Later pregnancy office visits for a routine pregnancy are shorter than the first. During most visits, physicians monitor the mother and the growth and development of her baby. For the first six months, mothers see our physicians every six weeks. During months seven and eight, office visits increase to every two weeks, and move to once a week during month nine.

Prenatal tests are vital tools for thorough care

Here is a schedule of the tests mothers can expect at pregnancy office visits.

• Eight to 10 weeks. Blood work and urinalysis at the first office visit help our Grapevine obgyns learn more about the mother’s health and how it may affect her baby.
• 12 to 13 weeks. Genetic screening can be performed. Our physicians will talk to women at their pregnancy office visits to determine if this screening is needed.
• 15 to 19 weeks. The serum quad screen is a maternal blood test to find markers that may indicate fetal neural tube defects, Down syndrome or Trisomy 18.
• 24 to 28 weeks. Gestational diabetes screening is a one-hour glucose test where the mother drinks a 10 oz. glucose beverage and receives a blood draw one hour after she drinks the solution. When a woman comes for her one-hour glucose test, she also receives a blood test to check her iron levels. During pregnancy office visits, women also provide urine samples to test for diabetes and urinary tract infections.
• 28 weeks. If a woman is Rh negative, according to bloodwork performed at her first visit, and the father is Rh positive, the mother must be screened for Rh antibodies at 28 weeks, or sometimes sooner.
• 35 to 37 weeks. Approximately 30% of women’s bodies contain Group B Streptococcus (GBS), so our physicians will take a vaginal culture during one of the pregnancy office visits to determine if the mother has this bacteria that can be passed to her baby.

Women also receive routine ultrasounds during the first and second trimesters.

Our Grapevine obgyns schedule pregnancy office visits with mothers to ensure that their pregnancy, labor and delivery are healthy and safe. Contact us to make an appointment.