What is prenatal care?

Prenatal care is the type of medical care and health maintenance that you get while you’re pregnant until childbirth. At Oasis Women’s Wellness Center, the team specializes in prenatal care, whether it’s your first time being pregnant or you’re an experienced mother. 

Prenatal care includes testing and checkups. These visits to your obstetrician happen regularly so they can identify any possible problems with your health or your baby’s health as soon as possible. 

During your prenatal visits at Oasis Women’s Wellness Center, the team teaches you all you need to know about pregnancy and what you need to do to stay healthy in every trimester. You need to make a few diet and habit changes for your baby’s health, and the team can help you implement them. 

When should I schedule my prenatal care visits?

As soon as you suspect you’re pregnant, especially if you took a pregnancy test and it was positive, you should schedule your first prenatal care visit at Oasis Women’s Wellness Center. 

If you discover you’re pregnant during a routine visit or a visit for something else, they can help you schedule your first visit for prenatal care very soon after. 

Throughout pregnancy, you have to have regular prenatal care visits. The team gives you a schedule for your visits, which typically includes once-a-month visits for the first 28 weeks, twice-a-month visits for weeks 28-36, and weekly visits until you give birth.

If you have a high-risk pregnancy due to multiple births, an underlying health condition, or your age, your visits are more frequent. The team tells you how often you need to come in for care at Oasis Women’s Wellness Center. 

What happens during prenatal care visits?

The first prenatal care visit is perhaps the busiest of all of them. You probably have a lot of questions about pregnancy, especially if it’s your first, and the team is ready to answer them. Additionally, they perform a series of tests and procedures. You can expect:

• A discussion about your medical history
• Questions about previous pregnancies
• A complete physical exam
• A pelvic exam and Pap smear
• Blood and urine lab work
• Vitals measurements
• Ultrasound

As your pregnancy progresses, your visits to Oasis Women’s Wellness Center are a bit shorter and less complicated. The team checks your blood pressure and evaluates your baby’s growth and development. 

They may use ultrasound imaging to do so, which lets you see an image of your growing baby on a screen. Ultrasound imaging can reveal the gender of your baby, too. 

Genetic testing is also available to provide more information about genetic disorders and medical conditions your baby may have. 

If you’re pregnant or planning on getting pregnant and in need of high-quality prenatal care, schedule a visit over the phone or online at Oasis Women’s Wellness Center today.