Pregnancy and Prenatal Care

Candace Cooley has managed pregnancies, the high risk kind as well as the routine, and delivered babies, and this index gathers the entries on pregnancy and the care that runs alongside it. The Office on Women’s Health describes prenatal care as the medical checkups and screening tests of pregnancy together with education and counseling, and notes that women at risk of complications should see an obstetrician, while those with the highest risk pregnancies may need a maternal fetal medicine specialist.¹

The schedule begins early. MedlinePlus explains that the first trimester runs through week 14 and that the initial visit typically includes blood tests, a full pelvic exam and a Pap test, with questions about past pregnancies, medicines and family history; the fetal heartbeat often cannot be heard or seen on ultrasound until at least 6 to 7 weeks.² The last weeks raise different questions. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists notes that a breech presentation occurs in 3 to 4 percent of full term births, and adds that a clinician may suggest external cephalic version, an attempt to turn the fetus head down by pressure on the abdomen, after 36 weeks.³

The seven entries are The Prenatal Care Schedule, Preeclampsia, Gestational Diabetes, Maternal Fetal Medicine, Nutrition and Weight Gain in Pregnancy, Maternal Warning Signs and Breech Presentation and External Cephalic Version, the subject of the research she contributed to.