Prenatal care is more than just health care while you are pregnant. Your health care provider may discuss many issues, such as nutrition and physical activity, what to expect during the birth process and basic skills for caring for your newborn.
Your doctor or midwife will give you a schedule for your prenatal visits. You can expect to see your health care provider more often as your due date gets closer. A typical schedule includes visiting your doctor or midwife
- About once each month during your first six months of pregnancy
- Every two weeks during the seventh and eighth month of pregnancy
- Weekly in the ninth month of pregnancy
If you are over 35 years old or your pregnancy is high risk because you have certain health problems like diabetes or high blood pressure, your doctor or midwife will probably want to see you more often.
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Medical Care during Pregnancy(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/medical_care_pregnancy.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/medical_care_pregnancy_esp.html
- Preconception Care(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) - http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/preconception_care.cfm
- Care Before and During Pregnancy--Prenatal Care(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) - http://www.nichd.nih.gov/womenshealth/research/pregbirth/prenatal_care.cfm
- Prenatal Care(National Women's Health Information Center) - http://womenshealth.gov/faq/prenatal-care.cfm
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Prenatal Care(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/159_513.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/centro/9246_9618.asp
- Exercise During Pregnancy May Help Baby(04/17/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_83055.html
- Low Levels of Vitamin B12 May Increase Risk for Neural Tube Defects(03/02/2009, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) - http://www.nih.gov/news/health/mar2009/nichd-02.htm
- Iodine in Prenatal Vitamins Varies Widely(02/25/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_81037.html
- Choosing Your Health Care Provider for Pregnancy(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/pregnancy/MY00024/METHOD=print
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Midwives(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/midwives.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/midwives_esp.html
- Rh Factor: How It Can Affect Your Pregnancy(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZAM52C67C&sub_cat=2005
- Prenatal Care(Healthy Roads Media) - http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/english/Files/flv/engprenatal.htm
- Fetal Development: What Happens during the First Trimester?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prenatal-care/PR00112/METHOD=print
- Fetal Development: What Happens during the Second Trimester?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fetal-development/PR00113/METHOD=print
- Fetal Development: What Happens during the Third Trimester?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fetal-development/PR00114/METHOD=print
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Prenatal Care(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/term=pregnancy+%5BCONDITION%5D+AND+prenatal+care
- Article: Effects of maternal multimicronutrient supplementation on the mental development of... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19336358&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Antenatal corticosteroid treatment: what's happened since Drs Liggins and Howie? - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19318156&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Complementary therapies: your questions answered. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19266767&tool=MedlinePlus
- Prenatal Care -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(prenatal+care[majr]+OR+prenatal+nutrition+physiology[majr])+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- ACOG's Physician Directory(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - http://www.acog.org/member-lookup/disclaimer.cfm
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March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation - http://www.marchofdimes.com/
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - http://www.nichd.nih.gov/
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National Women's Health Information Center(Dept. of Health and Human Services) - http://womenshealth.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://womenshealth.gov/espanol/
- FastStats: Prenatal Care(National Center for Health Statistics) - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/prenatal.htm
- PeriStats: Perinatal Statistics(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/peristats/
- Bringing in Baby - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/winter09/articles/winter09pg3-4.html
- Folic Acid - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/folicacid.html
- High Risk Pregnancy - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/highriskpregnancy.html
- Pregnancy - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pregnancy.html
- Pregnancy and Substance Abuse - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pregnancyandsubstanceabuse.html
- Prenatal Testing - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/prenataltesting.html
- Female Reproductive System - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/femalereproductivesystem.html
- Pregnancy and Reproduction - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pregnancyandreproduction.html
- Women - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/women.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Prenatal Care is the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - http://www.nichd.nih.gov/
Prenatal Care - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/prenatalcare.html