What is the best practice in pregnancy monitoring?

The best prenatal care includes mainly Ob/Gyn and ultrasound examinations, aiming to detect problems in the development of the fetus, to perform routine screening for congenital abnormalities, sexually transmitted diseases, measurement of the blood pressure, and different lab tests. 

Every medical appointment has to include ultrasound examination, measurement of weight, blood pressure,  measurement,  and circumference of woman’s abdomen, and also an assessment of the normal fetal development with the necessary fetal biometry. Besides, the woman receives Ob/Gyn advises for her pregnancy.

By the fifth medical appointment between 22 and 26 gestational weeks and if every with the gestation goes smooth, the pregnancy monitoring is monthly. But the pregnancy is high-risk, because of different factors like carrying twins or some complications, the frequency of the examinations depends on the recommendations of the gynecologist.

The first visit in the Ob/Gyn cabinet is between five and six gestational weeks when the gynecologist detects the heart beating of the embryo and determines the estimated due date. This visit includes other examinations like PAP test, microbiology of vaginal discharge, blood and urine testing. Every medical appointment incorporates measurement of blood pressure and weight.

The next medical appointment between 11 and 13 gestational weeks is one of the most important because this is the time for the first-trimester screening test, also known as biochemical screening, which aims to detect the possible presence of congenital abnormalities.

The core of the maternal-fetal medicine is not only the chromosomal and structural diseases. In the good modern practice the fetal medicine specialists look for other conditions, which could harm and cause severe complications to the pregnant woman and her baby.

The risk of preeclampsia during pregnancy is significant, and this condition is connected with small for the gestational age fetus, preterm birth and all the connections with these conditions complications. Therefore, The Fetal Medicine Center in Dr. Shterev Hospital introduced an additional test for preeclampsia of every pregnant woman, which is part of the first-trimester screening test performed by the specialists in the clinic.

About 16-22 gestational weeks the woman goes thru a highly specialized 3D or 4D ultrasound examination, which detects abnormalities and the chance for their treatment.

At the discretion of the monitoring Ob/Gyn specialist, the woman may undergo fetal echocardiography between 20 and 24 gestational weeks, which is a specialized examination of the heart of the fetus.

After the 28th gestational week, a part of the pregnancy monitoring becomes the nonstress test of the fetal heart rhythm on every two weeks.

Between 30 and 32 gestational weeks is the time for the last fetal morphology with Doppler examination, through which the medical team monitors the development of the gestation and the blood flow of the baby and the placenta.

To guarantee the comfort of the pregnant women, and following the European model of maternal-fetal healthcare, Dr. Shterev Hospital developed its specialized Fetal Medicine Center. In the clinic, you can receive high qualified personal care during the gestation from an Ob/Gyn specialist and fetal medicine specialists certified according to the European standards.