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Maternity Pre-natal Care
We know that becoming a mommy is often a
“couple” or “family” event. We encourage you to
bring your partner to any and all of your
visits. Your care will begin with visits that
include our obtaining a thorough medical,
surgical, genetic, infectious risk, family, and
social history. This kind of information from
your partner is also helpful. We will perform a
complete physical examination, including a Pap
smear and testing for sexually transmitted
diseases, which is required by
Texas State Law for all pregnant women.
We will draw blood for prenatal lab work that
includes a complete blood count, rubella
antibody test, blood type and Rh, RPR for
syphilis, HIV, thyroid function test, and a
urinanalysis. Depending on your medical history,
other tests may be warranted. We will provide
you with information regarding diet, activity,
educational sources, and medications.
In most cases, we will need to see you every 4
weeks until your 28th week of pregnancy, then
every 2 weeks until your 36th week, then every
week until delivery. We may see you more
frequently if you have any complications during
your pregnancy.
When you are 16 to 20 weeks pregnant, we will
perform a detailed ultrasound survey of the
baby’s anatomy. We also commonly use the
ultrasound to check your baby’s heartbeat and
determine the delivery date. At the time of this
sonogram, we will encourage you to have your
blood drawn for maternal serum
alpha-protein/triple testing to screen for
neural tube defects such as spina bifida (a
defect in the baby’s spine) and genetic
disorders such as Down’s syndrome.
Between 24 and 28 weeks, we will test you for
gestational diabetes and screen you for anemia.
Around 36 weeks, we will obtain a vaginal
culture for group B beta hemolytic
streptococcus, a bacterial infection.
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