WHY IS PRENATAL CARE NECESSARY FOR PREGNANT WOMEN

WHY IS PRENATAL CARE NECESSARY FOR PREGNANT WOMEN Jul,27,2020

One of the best gifts any women could get is motherhood. It is true that plenty of responsibilities come with being a mother because she will not only look after her health but also need to make sure that the baby is taken good care of. One of the simplest and easiest ways through which you can ensure that your baby is healthy and safe is through prenatal care.

After discovering that they are pregnant, most women get excited and immediately start buying cradles and baby clothes instead of scheduling a prenatal appointment with an experienced obstetrician. In the excitement and happiness, they presume that everything is going to be fine with their pregnancy and they decide to visit the health care provider later.

That said, there is nothing wrong with buying new dresses and preparing the home for your new baby. However, what’s more important is that you need to prepare your body. So, you will need to get in touch with our low income medical clinic to receive good prenatal care as soon as you discover that you are pregnant. This will in turn help you to ensure that both you and your baby are safe and healthy.

Consulting with the expert obstetricians at our low income medical clinic will help you get answers to all the questions and concerns you have regarding pregnancy. In addition to that, it will also enable you to build a friendly relationship with the obstetrician, which would make you feel a lot more confident and comfortable before going into the labor.

What is Prenatal Care and Why is it Necessary

The term ‘prenatal care’ might not seem that familiar to some women. Prenatal care can be defined as the health care that the mother receives throughout her pregnancy period. Practicing an early and regular prenatal care will help you to ensure that there are no complications or risk with your pregnancy.

Recent surveys conducted by experts in the field of medical science revealed that the newborn babies of women who do not receive prenatal care are about five times more likely to develop diseases or even die. The birth weight of these babies was also less when compared to the babies of mothers who received prenatal care.

Several women often feel that they do not need to go to an obstetrician at regular intervals during their pregnancy period, as it is not their first pregnancy. It is crucial to note that every pregnancy is different. So, if you are visiting an obstetrician regularly, then he/she will be able to determine the health issues if any. Once they have identified the issues, they will put forward an effective treatment plan to resolve the health issues.

How Often Should you Visit an Obstetrician

Women who are about to visit an obstetrician to know more about their pregnancy should ask them how often should they visit the clinic for prenatal care. The timeline for this usually depends on the current health of the mother. In most cases, women who are in the age limit of 16 to 35 should schedule a visit to our low income medical clinic every four to six days for the first weeks of their pregnancy.

After the 32nd week, pregnant women are usually told to visit their obstetrician at least three times a week, usually from the thirty-second week to the thirty-seventh weeks. Afterward, you can restrict the number of sessions to one until the time of delivery. However, the timeline of prenatal care may vary from one healthcare provider to another.

Benefits of Prenatal Care

Regular prenatal checkups help the health care providers and mother to ensure that the pregnancy is going as they have planned. In addition to that, prenatal care sessions also enable obstetricians to identify gestational diabetes, anemia, and other serious health disorders, which will help you to offer proper treatment to the mother.

It is true that you will not be able to tell how your baby is doing when you are pregnant. However, your health care provider will be able to determine whether your baby is healthy or not. Ultrasounds and other methods are used by health care providers to learn more about the growth of the baby.

When you are pregnant, you are not just feeding yourself but you are also feeding the little one. This means that you will need to eat lots of nutritional foods for both you and your baby to stay healthy throughout the pregnancy period. The health care provider at our low income medical clinic will be able to tell what you should eat and what you should avoid during the sessions.

Pro Tip: You should consume food of approximately 300 extra calories throughout the pregnancy period to provide necessary vitamins and nourishment to the baby. It is good for your overall health too.

About the Author

Dr. Ghassan M. Al-Jazayrly, MD

A graduate of University of Aleppo Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Al-Jazayrly or, as he is colloquially known: Dr. AJ, is an oncologist and hematologist of a Complete Care Community Health Center (CCCHC) with more than 36 years of experience. In recent years, he’s been involved with a non profit organization known as Every Woman Counts (EWC) which provides free breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services to California’s underserved populations in order to eliminate health disparities for low-income individuals.

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