View source for Where Women Have No Doctor:Prenatal Care (Check‑ups during Pregnancy)

{{bctrail|segments=3|chaptitle=Chapter 6: Pregnancy and Birth}}{{DISPLAYTITLE:Prenatal Care (Check‑ups during Pregnancy)}}{{SideSupplement|bookabbreviation=wwhnd|pagealt=is from <br> pages 76 to 77 of|chapterpdf=http://hesperian.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/en_wwhnd_2023/en_wwhnd_2023_06.pdf|bookurl=Where Women Have No Doctor|booktitle=Where Women Have No Doctor}}
{{chaptertoc|In this chapter:|
 <ul class{{=}}"noprint">
<li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Chapter 6: Pregnancy and Birth|Chapter 6: Pregnancy and Birth]]
 </li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Staying Healthy during Pregnancy|Staying Healthy during Pregnancy]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Common Problems during Pregnancy|Common Problems during Pregnancy]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Risks and Danger Signs during Pregnancy|Risks and Danger Signs during Pregnancy]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Prenatal Care (Check‑ups during Pregnancy)|Prenatal Care (Check‑ups during Pregnancy)]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Preparing for Labor and Birth|Preparing for Labor and Birth]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Giving Birth|Giving Birth]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Difficult Births|Difficult Births]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Danger Signs for the Baby at Birth|Danger Signs for the Baby at Birth]]</li>
<li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor:Care after the birth|Care After the Birth]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: People who need more support|People who Need More Support]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: To the Partner|To the Partner]]</li>
  <li>[[Where Women Have No Doctor: Working for Change: Pregnancy and Childbirth|Working for Change]]</li>
 </ul>
}}
Prenatal check-ups save lives by finding and taking care of problems early—before they are dangerous. Good care is not difficult to give and does not require expensive equipment. Get check-ups:

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<td style="width:50%;border-right:1px solid;">'''Minimum (3 check-ups)'''</td>
<td style="width:50%;padding-left:15px;">'''Best (10 to 15 check-ups)'''</td>
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<td style="border-right:1px solid;"> As soon as you think you are pregnant</td>
<td style="width:50%;padding-left:15px;">Every month up to 6 months</td></tr>

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<td style="border-right:1px solid;"> Around the 6th month of pregnancy</td>
<td style="width:50%;padding-left:15px;">Twice each month during months 6, 7, and 8</td></tr>

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<td style="border-right:1px solid;"> A month before the baby is due</td>
<td style="width:50%;padding-left:15px;">Each week for the last month</td>

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{{sidenote||Prenatal check-ups can help you decide the best place to have your baby: at home, or at a health center or hospital.}}

A midwife or health worker will ask about past pregnancies and births, including any problems, such as a lot of bleeding or babies that died. This information can help you both prepare for similar problems in this pregnancy. A midwife may also be able to:
*make sure you are eating well enough and suggest ways for you to eat better food, if necessary.
*give iron, which helps prevent anemia, and folic acid, which helps prevent disabilities in your baby.
*examine you to make sure you are healthy, physically and emotionally, and that the baby is growing well.
*give vaccinations to prevent [[Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:More_Ways_to_Prevent_Illness#tetanus|tetanus]].
*give medicine to prevent malaria if it is common in the area.
*give [[Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:The_HIV_Test|tests for HIV]] and syphilis, along with other [[Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:Chapter_16:_Sexually_Transmitted_Infections_and_Other_Infections_of_the_Genitals|sexually transmitted infections]].
*give medicines so HIV does not infect your baby.
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<th colspan{{=}}"2">What to expect at a prenatal check-up</th>
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<td colspan{{=}}"2" align{{=}}"left">A birth attendant or midwife should do these things at a prenatal check-up:</td>
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<td>[[Image:WWHND10_Ch6_Page_076-1.png{{!}}150px|alt=a health worker touching a woman's face under her eye]]</td>
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* Check the eyelids and finger nails for signs of [[Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:Poor_Nutrition_Can_Cause_Disease#Anemia{{!}}anemia]].</td></tr>

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<td>[[Image:WWHND10_Ch6_Page_076-2.png{{!}}150px|alt=a health worker holding and looking at a woman's hands]]</td></tr>
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* [[Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:Risks_and_Danger_Signs_during_Pregnancy#Swelling_of_the_hands_and_face_or_severe_headache_and_blurred_vision_.28eclampsia.29|Check the hands and face for swelling]].</td></tr>
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<td style{{=}}"padding-right:15px;">[[Image:WWHND10_Ch6_Page_076-3.png|180px|alt=a health worker checking a woman's blood pressure]]</td>
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* Check  weight, urine, and [[Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:How_to_Take_Temperature,_Pulse,_Respiration,_and_Blood_Pressure#Blood_pressure|blood pressure]].</td></tr>

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*Check the growth of the baby. Normally the womb grows 2 finger widths each month. At 4½ months it reaches the level of the navel. '''If the womb seems too small or too big, it may mean there is a problem.'''</td>
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<td><div style{{=}}"position:relative;width:300px;font-size:75%;">[[Image:WWHND10_Ch6_Page_076-5.png|right|300px|alt=a woman's body, with lines showing the baby's size each month]]
<div style{{=}}"position:absolute; left:-5px; top:40px;">9 months</div>
<div style{{=}}"position:absolute; left:-5px; top:55px;">8 months</div>
<div style{{=}}"position:absolute; left:-5px; top:73px;">7 months</div>
<div style{{=}}"position:absolute; left:-5px; top:89px;">6 months</div>
<div style{{=}}"position:absolute; left:-5px; top:105px;">5 months</div>
<div style{{=}}"position:absolute; left:-5px; top:120px;">4 months</div>
<div style{{=}}"position:absolute; left:-5px; top:136px;">3 months</div></div>
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{|style="float: right;" width="25%"
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|[[Image:WWHND10_Ch6_Page_077-1a.png|120px|center]]
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|align="center"|fetoscope
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To check whether the baby is healthy, a midwife may listen for the baby’s heartbeat. It may be possible to hear it by putting one ear against the pregnant person’s abdomen, but it is often difficult to tell the baby’s heartbeat apart from the pregnant person’s. It is easier with a fetoscope. Another sign the baby is healthy is if the pregnant person feels the baby move every day during the second half of the pregnancy, including the day of the check-up.
<div id{{=}}"position"></div>
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<td colspan{{=}}4 align{{=}}"center"> '''How to check the baby's position'''</td></tr>

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<td colspan{{=}}4>During pregnancy, it is common for a baby to change position several times in the womb. By the end of the pregnancy, the baby should be lying in the womb with its head down, toward the opening of the womb. This is the best position for birth. To check if the baby is head down, feel for the head like this:</td></tr>

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<td style{{=}}"width:25%;text-indent: -15px; padding-left: 25px;padding-bottom:25px;">'''1.''' Have the pregnant person breathe out all the way. Using both hands, feel the baby.</td>

<td colspan{{=}}3 style{{=}}"padding-bottom:25px;">
<div style{{=}}"position:relative;line-height:110%;">[[Image:WWHND10_Ch6_Page_077-2.png|240px|center|alt=a pregnant woman's body, showing the baby's position and two hands feeling for the baby's head]]
<div style{{=}}"position:absolute; width:110px; left:10px; top:10px;text-align:right;">''With the thumb and 2 fingers, push in here, just above the '''pubic bone.'''''</div>
<div style{{=}}"position:absolute; width:125px; left:375px; top:40px;">''With the other hand, feel the top of the womb.''</div></div></td></tr>

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<td style{{=}}"text-align:right;padding-bottom:25px;">The baby’s bottom is larger and wider...<br><br>...and its head is harder and more round.</td>
<td style{{=}}"width:25%;padding-bottom:25px;">
<div style{{=}}"position:relative;">[[Image:WWHND10_Ch6_Page_077-3.png|140px|left]]
<div style{{=}}"position:absolute; width:100px;top:10px; left:140px;">So bottom up feels larger high up...</div></div></td>
<td valign{{=}}bottom style{{=}}"width:25%;text-align:right;padding-bottom:25px;">...and bottom down feels larger low down.</td>
<td style{{=}}"width:25%;padding-bottom:25px;">[[Image:WWHND10_Ch6_Page_077-4.png|140px|left]]</td></tr>

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<td  colspan{{=}}2 style{{=}}"text-indent: -15px; padding-left: 25px;padding-bottom:25px;">'''2.''' Push gently from side to side, first with one hand, then with the other. At the same time, feel what happens to the baby's body with the other hand as you push.</td>
<td  colspan{{=}}2 style{{=}}"text-indent: -15px; padding-left: 25px;padding-bottom:25px;">
'''3.''' Just before birth, a baby will move lower in the womb to get ready for birth. So, late in pregnancy, you may not be able to feel the baby's head move.</td></tr>

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<td style{{=}}"padding-bottom:25px;">If the baby's buttocks are pushed gently sideways, the baby's whole body will also move.<br><br>But if the head is pushed gently sideways, it will bend at the neck and the back will not move.
<td style{{=}}"padding-bottom:25px;">[[Image:WWHND10_Ch6_Page_077-5.png|120px|left]]</td>
<td style{{=}}"padding-bottom:25px;">If the baby is still high in the womb, you can move the head a little. But if it has already moved lower, you cannot move it.<br><br>A person’s first baby may move lower about 2 weeks before labor begins. Second or later babies often do not do this until labor starts.</td>
<td style{{=}}"padding-bottom:25px;">[[Image:WWHND10_Ch6_Page_077-6.png|170px|left]]</td></tr>
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{{Previous and next sections|Risks and Danger Signs during Pregnancy|Preparing for Labor and Birth}}
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