Pregnancy And Antenatal Testing
A sample of your urine needs to be checked often to make certain it doesn't contain protein. Protein within the urine may be harmful as this generally indicates there's a condition referred to as pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia frequently causes women to have fits similar to epilepsy, as a rule your physician may also examine your blood-pressure to make an accurate diagnosis.
Pre-eclampsia will cause flashing lights and spots to appear before an expectant mother's eyes. Your doctor will also check your blood pressure as an elevated blood pressure is part of this condition. Your blood tests are often done to find out several things such as if you are rhesus positive or negative because if you are pregnant and rhesus negative, then injections are required very early in the pregnancy to prevent a miscarriage. There is usually a great risk of this happening if the woman has had a child before or even a miscarriage. Blood tests also check for anemia which happens quite a bit in pregnancy and you will need to get supplements if your blood count gets low.
Blood tests also help your doctor to detect whether or not you are suffering from anemia which causes a low blood count, this is quite common in pregnancy and must be treated with iron supplements. Your blood tests will also detect whether or not you have HIV. HIV infections must be treated immediately so that it doesn't infect the child.
By 18 to 20 weeks all pregnant women would have been given at least one ultrasound, at 18 to 20 weeks you can identify defects and also find out the gender most of the times. This is usually the part that most expectant couples find the most exciting as they will finally know if they are having a little boy or a little girl so that they can know which color baby clothes to purchase and how to decorate the nursery.
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