The he alth of the future baby depends on the mother's he alth, so get tested before pregnancy. The tests will not only assess the condition of your body, but also reduce the risk of problems with reporting pregnancy, and may allow you to detect the source of possible problems with getting pregnant.
Do you want to get pregnant ? Before that happens - do the recommendedresearch . Many of them can rule out diseases or infections that are dangerous for pregnancy or reduce the chances of pregnancy. Unfortunately, not every doctor places the emphasis on this - if you don't get a referral or even advice, do your own lab tests (and consider changing your doctor).
If you want to minimize the risk of failure, you should do at least a few tests before pregnancy.
Pre-pregnancy tests
- Urinalysis - a basic test for kidney disease and urogenital infections, which are one of the leading causes of obstetric complications and should be completely healed before pregnancy.
- Blood morphology- is used to assess general he alth, allows to detect certain diseases and infections, e.g. anemia, blood coagulation disorders, immunodeficiencies.
- Blood chemistry test - allows you to check e.g. glucose, creatinine, electrolytes (sodium, potassium), bilirubin, ALT, ALP (liver tests). It is especially important to test your blood sugar (glucose) to rule out diabetes. This disease (if left untreated) may cause underdevelopment of some organs of the child or hypertrophy of the heart muscle, cause premature birth or excessive size of the fetus, which increases the risk of complications.
- Blood test for rubella, toxoplasmosis, chlamydiosis, cytomegaly. These infections - when they become pregnant for the first time - cause severe fetal defects or loss of pregnancy, while chlamydiosis makes it difficult to get pregnant. However, if you have been in contact with the causative agent of the disease in the past, antibodies have developed in your blood which have made you immune to the infection. Check if you have them by testing for toxoplasmosis IgG antibodies, rubella, chlamydia trachomatis and cytomegalovirus. Note: Although cytomegalovirus is dangerous to the fetus, there is no cure or vaccine for it, if anylack of immunity, therefore, you need to be careful, e.g. avoid pre-schooling, close contact with children (it is mainly children who transmit this infection).
- Blood test for ANTI-HBS and ANTI-HCV antibodies, detecting hepatitis B and C viruses. Although these infections are not fatal to the fetus, however, the virus that destroys the liver can spread to the child over time. childbirth. So make sure you're not infected, and if so, get treatment before you get pregnant.
- HIV test - it should be performed in every mother-to-be, because a woman unaware of her infection (and it is estimated that about 30% of HIV-positive people do not know about it) may pass the virus to the baby during childbirth. And when the mother knows that she is infected and informs the hospital staff about it, her baby will be born he althy.
- Testing the level of prolactin - increased levels of this hormone in the blood cause problems with getting pregnant.
- Testing the concentration of thyroid hormones. Malfunctioning of the thyroid gland can have very negative effects. Hypothyroidism can cause severe mental retardation of the fetus and skeletal defects, premature detachment of the placenta, and even miscarriage. Sometimes it makes it impossible to get pregnant at all. Also, an overactive thyroid gland can lead to complications (hypertension, pre-eclampsia, fetal anomalies). To avoid putting yourself and your baby at risk, test your thyroid hormone levels before pregnancy. The thyroid produces and secretes three hormones into the blood: thyroxin (T4), triiodothyronine (T3) and calcitonin. An important hormone for the functioning of the thyroid gland is thyrotropin (TSH) produced by the pituitary gland, which stimulates the thyroid gland to produce T4 and T3 - that is why the control tests assess the levels of both T4 and T3, as well as TSH. If the result is abnormal, you should see your endocrinologist for further tests or treatment. Only when thyroid function is balanced can you try for a baby.