Pregnancy

Topic Overview

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This topic covers prepregnancy and pregnancy information, including planning for labor and delivery. For more information, see the topic Labor, Delivery, and Postpartum Period.

How can I prepare for a pregnancy?

If you are planning to become pregnant soon, there are steps you can take to make your pregnancy as healthy as possible.

• See a doctor or certified nurse-midwife (CNM) for a prepregnancy exam. Discuss the safety of any medications you're now taking, whether you've had all necessary immunizations, and any health problems or other concerns you may have.
• Be sure to avoid nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen or aspirin, which may increase your risk of miscarriage, especially around the time of conception or when used for more than a week.¹ Talk to your doctor about any medicines or dietary supplements you take.
• Start taking a daily multivitamin or prenatal vitamin with 0.4 mg (400 mcg) of folic acid. This reduces the chance of having a baby with a birth defect.
• See your dentist. Take care of any dental work you may need to have done.
• Keep track of your menstrual cycle. This not only helps you know the best time to try to get pregnant but later gives your health professional a good idea of your fetus's age and development.
• Make healthy lifestyle choices. Eat a balanced diet. Cut down on caffeine. Avoid alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, illegal drugs, and medications or other substances that are unsafe during pregnancy.
• Exercise regularly. A strong body helps you handle the demands of pregnancy, childbirth, and recovery. Exercise also helps keep your mood up.

If you are not sure when you are most fertile, use this interactive tool to calculate your peak fertility .

What can I do to promote a healthy pregnancy?

After you're pregnant, regular checkups are key. Your health professional will want to follow your baby's growth and watch for problems that can only be found by regularly checking your blood pressure, urine, and blood.

Anything you do that harms your body harms your fetus. Take special care to avoid tobacco smoke, alcohol and drugs, chemicals, radiation (as from X-rays), and sources of infection. Keep your body temperature from getting too high [over 100.4°F (38°C) ] by treating any fevers with acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) and avoiding exercise or activity that overheats you. Also avoid high-temperature hot tub or sauna use.

Take extra-good care of yourself while you're pregnant. Everything healthy you do for your body helps your growing fetus. Rest when you need it, eat well, drink plenty of water, and exercise regularly.

What kinds of exams and tests will I have?

Your first prenatal exam gives your doctor or certified nurse-midwife important information for planning your prenatal care. You will have a pelvic exam, a blood pressure and weight check, and urine and blood tests during this first office visit. The urine and blood tests are used for a pregnancy test and to tell whether you have low iron levels (are anemic) or have signs of infection.

At each prenatal visit you'll be weighed, have your abdomen measured, and have your blood pressure and urine checked. Keep all your appointments. Although these quick office visits may seem simple and routine, your health professional is actually watching for signs of possible pregnancy complications.

During your second trimester, you can have blood tested (triple or quadruple screen test) to see whether you have a higher-than-normal chance of having a baby with birth defects. If you already know that you have risk factors for birth defects, such as having a family history of birth defects or genetic disease on either side or being age 35 or older, you and your health professional may decide on earlier or more specific testing. You may be referred to a geneticist for further discussion. In some medical centers, tests to screen for Down syndrome and other chromosome problems in the first trimester are available.

Late in your second trimester, your blood sugar is checked (oral glucose screen) for diabetes triggered by pregnancy (gestational diabetes). Near the end of your pregnancy, you will be screened for infections that could harm your newborn.

What warning signs should I look for during my pregnancy?

Call your health professional immediately if you have:

• Cramping.
• Blood or other fluid from the vagina.
• Abdominal pain.
• Persistent low backache.
• Burning or pain while urinating.
• Headache.
• Blurred vision.
• Fever.
• Sudden, severe foot, ankle, or hand swelling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Learning about pregnancy:	What can I do to prepare for pregnancy? How long do I wait to conceive after stopping birth control? What are the first signs of pregnancy? What kinds of exams and tests will I have? What kinds of symptoms are important to call my health professional about? What kinds of emotional changes might I expect? What can I do and what should I avoid to have a healthy pregnancy? What kinds of lifestyle changes should I be thinking of? I have so many questions about how my body is changing. Where can I learn more about that? What is the first trimester like? What is the second trimester like? What is the third trimester like? How can I plan ahead for breast-feeding? What kinds of choices might I have during labor and delivery? How can I tell that labor is starting? Should I use epidural anesthesia during childbirth?
Interactive tools:	When am I most fertile? How do I calculate my due date? How much is my baby growing and changing every month?
Special concerns:	How can I manage morning sickness? Should I have the maternal serum triple test (triple screen)? Should I have an early fetal ultrasound? Should I have an amniocentesis? Should I have chorionic villus sampling? Should I bank my baby's umbilical cord blood? Should I plan to have an episiotomy? Pregnancy over age 35 Handling pregnancy and parenting Immunizations and pregnancy Managing asthma during pregnancy Pregnancy and seat belt use RhoGAM (Rh immune globulin) for women with Rh-negative blood type Depression during pregnancy Should I take antidepressants during pregnancy? HIV and pregnancy Cancer during pregnancy Smallpox vaccine and pregnancy Vegetarian diet during pregnancy Massage during pregnancy

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Author:	Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH	Last Updated November 30, 2006
Medical Review:	Renée M. Crichlow, MD - Family Medicine Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology
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