Medical Tests during Pregnancy
February 2, 2009
Pregnancy is a very special phase in a women’s life. It is a period of considerable mental and physical changes and therefore everyone around is so careful about the would-be-mother.
Apart from a well planned nutritional diet and some exercises, medical tests must be performed. These are performed to keep track of proper growth of the baby and warn about any risks that may occur during the delivery.
Nevertheless the would-be–mother must be informed about these tests that are related to pregnancy. Four tests that are absolutely necessary include Blood Pressure, Blood sugar, Ultra sound and Urine analysis.
Blood pressure is normally low during pregnancy, about 120/70. Every time you may visit your doctor they would check your blood pressure. This is to make sure that the blood pressure does not occur above 140/90.
If this is the case then women is asked to be on bed rest. Toxemia and pre-eclampsia are the serious complications due to elevated blood pressure. During initial 30 weeks, a regular check of blood sugar levels is done; especially if the women or anyone else in the family has a history of diabetes or obesity. Urinary analysis helps in showing positive functioning of kidneys.
Ultrasound is done three times during pregnancy. One is to confirm the pregnancy and to calculate the correct possible delivery date of the child. Near 6th month, ultra sound is done once again to check proper development of all organs of the child.
If necessary, a final is performed as doctor may seek important. There are certain tests which depend on the family history. These include for Thalessemia and Sickle-cell-anemia.
Glucose 6Phosphate Dehydrogenas is perfomed to check out is disorder. While Thalessemia is more common to Sindhi community, Parsis tend to carry trait of Thalessemia. Amniotic fluid is also checked to detect any risk of herpes, HIV, etc. But it must only be done by a specialist. Other rare tests include Colour Doppler test and Alpha Feto Protein Test.
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