The first half of your pregnancy is a time when various blood tests are offered to check for potential problems. It’s really important that you have these tests as advised by your midwife. But the choice is yours and you will be provided with plenty of information to help you decide. You can go to this website and your midwife will give you a leaflet called “Screening tests for you and your baby”.
So, what are the main tests and why do we recommend them?
Anaemia is caused by too little haemoglobin in your blood and will make you feel very tired. If you are anaemic, you will be offered advice on diet and maybe offered Iron supplements. It’s important to find out whether your blood group is Rhesus positive or Rhesus negative. If you are rhesus negative there are some further tests and treatment that you need to help protect your baby and any subsequent babies you may have.
Whilst it is likely that you will have had a vaccination against, German measles, it doesn’t mean that you are immune to the disease, which can damage your baby. Therefore we want to check your immunity and we can do this through a simple blood test.
Hepatitis B, HIV and syphilis can all be identified by a blood test. Although they may not make you feel ill, if they are not found, they could cause serious harm to your baby. If we know about them, you can receive the right care to reduce the risk of passing an infection on to your baby.
Sickle cell and thalassaemia are blood disorders which affect haemoglobin and can be passed on to your child. You will be offered screening for these and depending on your result may also be offered screening for the baby’s father.
Some people are more at risk of developing diabetes during their pregnancy. Having diabetes whilst you are pregnant increases the risks to your health and that of your baby and therefore if you are in the higher risk group, you will be offered a blood test.
We really believe that it is better to have these tests early in your pregnancy, but if you decide not to, you will be offered them again later in your pregnancy, but if you have any concerns you should speak to your midwife as you can be tested at any stage.
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