Your first healthcare visit should include a pregnancy test to confirm your pregnancy, with a full physical examination that will include a pelvic exam; your urine should also be tested for protein, sugar and signs of infections.
During the pelvic exam your healthcare provider will also check for sexually transmitted diseases. If you are due for your routine cervical test or pap-smear, this will form part of your pelvic exam. A pap-smear test detects changes in your cervical cells that could lead to cancer.
If you don’t know your blood type a blood test will check for that, there are four blood types, A, B, AB and O. Your health worker should also ask you about any previous pregnancies and complications, if you have any medical conditions or if you are using any chronic medication.
Do a HIV test, TB test, RPR test (Rapid Plasma Reagin tests for syphilis), Hb test (It measures the amount of iron-rich protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to tissues in the body).
Throughout your second and third trimester, you'll be offered more tests depending on your age, health, family medical history, and other things. Regular blood pressure and urine testing needs to be done, frequent monitoring of your baba’s developments and monitoring of your own health for any complications. Early detection and treatment is key.
You can document all of these results on the ‘My Pregnancy Journey’ app, if you move from healthcare provider to another; or in case of an emergency, you have the results of each test with you.
*All of our information are only guidelines and are not intended to replace the advice of a professional medical specialist; we are providing information to you on a general information basis only. My Pregnancy Journey disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.
