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During pregnancy, every mother should remember that by taking care of her health, she also cares for the proper development of the baby. To ensure this, during the first visit, the gynecologist will order you a series of blood tests, set the dates for the ultrasound and arrange the dates of subsequent visits with you. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to ask your doctor.
It is very important that you have regular antibody tests during pregnancy. Some of them are obligatory, which means that the doctor will order it for every pregnant woman, regardless of her age or general health. The others are said to be ‘recommended’. You can decide together with your doctor whether they will be performed. Below you will find information on what tests you should perform in each week of pregnancy. For each of these tests, the nurse will take blood from your vein. No special preparation is required for any of them, you do not need to be on an empty stomach.
Up to the 10th week pregnancy (preferably between the 6th and 8th week of pregnancy):
Mandatory tests: immune antibodies (this test checks whether the mother’s blood contains antibodies against proteins that may be on the surface of the blood cells or in the baby’s serum).
Recommended tests: HIV, HCV (hepatitis C), toxoplasmosis test (antibodies that are present in the early stage of the disease – IgM and those that persist after recovery – IgG).
21 – 26 weeks of pregnancy:
Recommended tests: in women with a negative result in the first trimester – testing for toxoplasmosis.
27-32 weeks of pregnancy:
Mandatory tests: immune antibodies (this test checks whether the mother’s blood contains antibodies against proteins that may be on the surface of the blood cells or in the baby’s serum).
33-37 weeks of pregnancy:
Recommended tests: in the group of women with an increased population risk or individual risk of HIV and HCV infection.
Based on: Recommendation of the Polish Gynecological Society on antenatal care in a normal pregnancy.