Prenatal Tests That You Can’t Miss!

Monday, November 7, 2011, 12:19

Your pregnancy is a critical time of your life and therefore you need prenatal tests to keep your basic health and the baby"s development under check. No, prenatal screening tests do not mean that you have a high risk pregnancy or any complications while giving birth. Most of these tests are routine so that there is a regular record of your health. There are certain common tests that are prescribed often for some special conditions but with the increasing number of problematic pregnancies, they are becoming common.

A normal pregnancy is really rare these days so the more you know about these prenatal tests, the better it is for you and your baby.

Common Prenatal Tests That Must Be Done:

1. Blood Test: This is one of the most routine things you have to go when you are pregnant. You need to do a blood test pretty regularly either fortnightly or monthly whenever you visit your gynecologist. A routine prenatal screening of blood would include,

Hemoglobin count because women are prone to anemia during this time

Signs of infection like HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases, chicken pox, measles etc.

Diseases: You may carry diseases like hemophilia or thalasemia without knowing about it.

2. Urine Test: Until recently prenancy was diagnosed based on this test but other methods like blood tests are preferred now.

Urinary Infection: Any kind of infection in the urinary tract can quickly travel up to the uterus during pregnancy, so you need to get it checked regularly.

Proteins: The quantity of proteins in the urine helps detect a common pregnancy health risk called preeclampsia resulting from high blood pressure.

Sugar levels in the urine need to be checked for gestations diabetes

3. Hormone Tests: usually a blood sample is taken for testing the levels of hormones in the body but it can also be done directly from the endocrine organ in some cases. Hyperactivity of the thyroids gland or any female hormone like progesterone can cause problems during pregnancy.

4. Sonography: Although this test was used sparing even 2 decades back (as it is expensive) now it is a routine prenatal test. It uses ultrasound rays to see the position of the baby in the pelvis. A long narrow rod is inserted into the vagina to capture images of the foetus. It is done almost every month to check the baby"s position in the uterus.

5. Anamoly Test: This is a special type of ultrasound scan that is catching up popularity with gynecologists. It is a prenatal screening test that involves the detection of any kind of abnormalities in the pregnancy. The foetus is checked for things like webbed limbs, heart conditions or brain damage during anamoly test. People get it done to be sure of the baby"s health and also if they have history of such problems.
Some valuable tests like amniocentesis are banned in India due a culture that favours sex determination. All the other prenatal tests should be done routinely.