First Checkup Tests

Once your pregnancy test kit indicates a positive result, you should visit your obstetrician for confirmation of your pregnancy and some preliminary tests. Here are some tests your doctor may perform during your first checkup.

Uterine Examination

About four weeks after conception, your obstetrician will do an internal examination to assess the size of the uterus and to confirm the date of pregnancy. After the third month of pregnancy, the size of the uterus is measured by feeling the uterus abdominally.The size of the uterus is examined to know whether the baby is growing well or not.

Ultrasound Scan

Ultrasound scan is performed in all the three trimesters. In the first, it confirms the presence of pregnancy, measures the size of the foetus, determines the number of foetuses present, volume of amniotic fluid and location of the placenta. Second and third trimester scans help to find if the growth of the baby is normal, and to detect abnormalities, if any present in the baby, as it grows.

Preliminary Blood Tests

A few blood tests are done at your first visit to your obstetrician. These are done to find

• If you are anemic
• To know your blood group and to test whether you are Rh positive or Rh negative
• To find if there are viruses causing Hepatitis B or Rubella which may cause severe abnormalities in the baby
• To find if HIV is present, which in the affirmative has a chance to be passed on to the baby.
• Syphilis, a rarely occurring, highly infectious bacterial disease also can be diagnosed through the blood test. This disease if it occurs in the mother can cause abnormalities in the baby.

Blood test combined with an ultrasound scan is done during the first trimester between 11 and 14 weeks, to detect possibilities of Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities.