Prenatal Test - For Mother And Baby
Prenatal tests are a part of the prenatal care, and modern medicine has made it possible for pregnant women to have access to these services. A new life is developing inside your body, and you play a big role in making sure the baby comes out healthy and strong. Prenatal tests can detect you and baby’s health conditions. It can also help medical professionals detect your baby’s gender, as well as abnormalities or deformities even before birth.
Testing the Mother
As soon as your pregnancy test shows positive, you must make an appointment with a doctor or obstetrician. From then on your visit will be a series of tests to make sure you are healthy because your overall health condition will affect the health of your unborn child.
You will have to undergo testing for blood type and Rh factor, blood screening to test for exposure to communicable diseases like chickenpox and measles or for iron deficiency, urine test to check for diabetes or infection, as well as tests for sexually transmitted diseases. These are all part of the necessary prenatal tests, and throughout your pregnancy, you will be monitored for possible development of any complications like toxemia or preeclampsia.
Another prenatal test you will have to undergo as you progress towards the second trimester of pregnancy is a glucose screening to screen for diabetes. As your expected date of delivery draws near your doctor will take another test for Group B streptococcus. This bacterium can cause complications when transferred to the baby during delivery.
You can also resort to voluntary tests like Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS) test to screen the baby for chromosomal abnormalities, Triple Screen or Maternal Blood Screening to test for the possibility of Down syndrome and Amniocentesis to detect Down syndrome and other metabolic disorders.
Testing the Baby
Prenatal tests are done to ensure that both you and your baby will be given all the chance possible to be in the best of health. By conducting prenatal tests, your doctor will be able to screen for possible abnormalities and genetic disorders like dwarfism and Huntington disease, sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis and Tay-Sachs. Prenatal tests could also help screen for other disorders like hemophilia, Down syndrome, neural tube defects and congenital heart disease.
One of the most commonly used medical equipment for prenatal test is the ultrasound. This is very effective in confirming pregnancy in the first place, the assessing the size and development of the baby. The ultrasound can also help determine the baby’s gender and the number of fetuses as well as their location.
Nowadays, you can rarely meet a pregnant woman who has not gone through a battery of tests. Naturally, you would want the best your baby and it is your duty to help your baby reach the best of health. You should consult your doctor to discuss which of the multitudes of prenatal tests you should take.
Sam Jenkins B.S.N RN, is the creator of PregnancyRx.com - A trusted source for online pregnancy information. PregnancyRx covers topic from Early Signs and Symptoms to Delivery and beyond. Sam created http://www.pregnancyrx.com to be a quick and easy to navigate reference for any expecting mother.