Prenatal care is also known as healthcare for pregnant patients. It consists of various procedures, such as gynecologic examinations, sexually transmitted disease treatment and fetal development and health monitoring, to name a few. Early and regular prenatal care visits can help upcoming moms and their babies to be and stay healthy during pregnancy. Regular care lets our doctors and specialist find any potential problems that might arise and deal with them as soon as possible. It's important to start prenatal care very early — ideally before pregnancy, to ensure the birth of a healthy and happy child.
There are many steps and procedures to be involved in prenatal care. To ensure a succesful pregnancy, our Fertility Center suggests pursuing these actions:
- Early pregnancy diagnosis. By diagnosing a pregnancy early, it becomes easier both for the patient and for the doctor to develop a proper plan to approach any potential health issues that could arise during pregnancy, and to ensure the proper care and lifestyle required for pregnancy to go smoothly.
- Patient health examination. After diagnosing pregnancy, it is crucial for the pregnant patient to undergo a full health examination and check-up. This examination might reveal possible underlying health issues that could surface during pregnancy. Because of that, it is extremely important to get checked early into pregnancy, ideally immediately after confirming that the patient is pregnant.
- Pregnancy supervision. In both low-risk and high-risk pregnancy cases, constant and regular supervision is important. Regular visits, health check-ups, consultations and tests allow the doctors to potentially deal with pregnancy-related issues before they even arrive.
- Fetal development and heartbeat monitoring. Fetal monitoring is a common procedure to check the health of the upcoming baby. Regular fetal monitoring is recommended to ensure that the fetus is healthy. During early stages of pregnancy, fetal heart rate is monitored, to check the rate and rhythm of the heartbeats, and any potental changes since last visit. Abnormal rate and rhythm patterns might signify a health problem. In later stages of pregnany, fetal monitoring is continued to reveal potential health issues in the upcoming baby, up until labour. Based on monitoring results, further testing might be required.
- Childbirth consulting. Our Fertility Center offers consulting to answer questions related to childbirth. The patient might have multiple questions regarding the upcoming childbirth, and consulting is one of the best ways to answer them. Topics such as breastfeeding, labour, childbirth itself and more can be discussed in our Fertility Center.
- Noninvasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT). Noninvasive prenatal test can assess a risk of possible genetic diseases for the fetus During pregnancy, baby's placenta cells are shed into mother's bloodstream. By obtaining a mother's blood sample, it is possible to screen these cells for potential diseases. The most common chromosomal disorders, such as Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome and Patau syndrome, all of these and several others can be screened by NIPT testing. However, it is crucial to understand that NIPT test is a screening, and not a diagnostic test. It can only assess and predict the risk of a possible genetic disorder. In order to obtain an accurate and precise diagnosis, other tests should be performed.