Your Prenatal Appointments
Your prenatal appointments are an important part of your pregnancy journey. At your appointments, you will have the opportunity to meet with your care team, as well as the physicians specializing in the type of care you require in the course of your pregnancy.
At each prenatal visit, please check in directly at the reception desk and present both your health card and Mount Sinai Hospital card.
The first people you will meet from your care team are the staff at the reception desks. They will help you in scheduling your visits and tests, answering many of your questions and contacting your physician should an emergency arise.
Next you will meet our registered nurses who have extensive experience with pregnancy care and women’s reproductive health. They will take your blood pressure, weight and perform some tests to see how your baby is doing, as well as review your medical history and patient chart.
You will then meet one of the physicians specializing in the type of care you require. This might include physicians in paediatrics, maternal fetal medicine specialists, anesthesia, endocrine, cardiac or internal medicine. You may also meet with other perinatal team members such as social workers, dieticians or a lactation consultant.
Your first visit will take extra time as we will review your health and any medical issues you may have.
An appointment may take up to 3 to 4 hours as we try to coordinate everything you need on the same day. We suggest that you bring along a snack and some reading material in case your appointment time is delayed or longer than anticipated.
You will be offered several blood tests, including blood group and antibody screen (“Rh” group), blood count, thyroid hormone, VDRL, rubella, hepatitis screening, urine cultures, cervical cultures and pap smear.
To help confirm your due date, you will be offered an early ultrasound. Images may be purchased.
You may choose to have an Enhanced First Trimester Screening (FTS), a form of screening for genetic problems such as Down Syndrome, which involves an ultrasound measurement of the baby’s nuchal translucency (NT) as well as additional tests.
You clinician will also discuss other tests that may be appropriate for you, such as maternal serum screen (MSS), chorionic villous sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis. Click here to learn more about screening.
Additional tests may also be needed depending on your condition or that of your baby.
