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The first prenatal examination
Pregnancy follow-up includes seven mandatory consultations. The first visit is of paramount importance. It must take place before the end of the 3rd month of pregnancy, and can be done by a doctor or a midwife. The purpose of this first examination is to confirm the pregnancy on the day of conception and therefore to calculate the date of delivery. This calendar is essential to then follow the evolution and development of the fetus.
The prenatal consultation detects the risk factors
The prenatal examination begins with an interview during which the practitioner asks us if we are suffering from nausea, recent pain, if we have a chronic disease, family or medical history : uterine scar, twin pregnancy, abortion, premature births, blood incompatibility (rh or platelets), etc. He also asks us about our living and working conditions, our daily transport time, our other children… In short, everything that is likely to favor a premature birth.
In the absence of particular risks, one can be followed by the practitioner of his choice: his general practitioner, his gynecologist or a liberal midwife. In the event of an identified risk, it is better to be taken care of by an obstetrician-gynecologist in a maternity hospital.
Examinations during the first consultation
Then, several exams will follow one another : taking blood pressure, auscultation, weighing, examination of the venous network, but also palpation of the breasts and (perhaps) vaginal examination (always with our consent) to check the condition of the cervix and its size. Several other examinations can be requested of us such as the albumin dosage to detect arterial hypertension, a blood test to identify our rhesus group. You can also choose to be screened for the AIDS virus (HIV). There are also compulsory examinations: syphilis, toxoplasmosis and rubella. And if we are not immune to toxoplasmosis, we will (unfortunately) do this blood test EVERY MONTH until delivery. Finally, in some cases, we look for germs in the urine (ECBU), a Blood Formula Count (BFS) and we do a Pap smear if the last is more than two years. For women from the Mediterranean basin or Africa, the doctor will also ask for a specific examination to detect hemoglobin diseases, more frequent in certain ethnic groups.
The prenatal consultation prepares the pregnancy follow-up
During this visit, our doctor or midwife will inform us about the importance of pregnancy monitoring for us and our baby. He will give us advice on food and hygiene to adopt when we are expecting a baby. This prenatal consultation is also a passport for making the appointment for your first ultrasound. And the sooner the better. Ideally, it should be done in the 12th week of amenorrhea to measure the embryo, date more precisely the beginning of our pregnancy and measure the thickness of the neck of the fetus. Our practitioner will finally inform us of the possibility of the serum marker test which, in addition to the first ultrasound, which assesses the risk of Down’s syndrome.
Important
At the end of the examination, our doctor or midwife will give us a document entitled “First prenatal medical examination”. This is called the Declaration of Pregnancy. You must send the pink section to your Caisse d’Assurance Maladie; the two blue shutters to your (CAF).