What is included in the 12-week prenatal checkup?

Everyone knows that you need to do prenatal checkups when you are pregnant. Normal prenatal checkups usually start at 12 weeks. Because it is the first prenatal checkup, there will definitely be more items, so that you can better observe the development of the fetus in the abdomen and the health of the pregnant mother. So what are the items in the 12-week prenatal checkup? It is very important to understand this issue.

A. Routine prenatal check-up items:

During the first prenatal check-up, doctors will usually ask expectant mothers to create a pregnancy health care handbook, determine the gestational age, calculate the expected date of delivery, and assess high-risk factors during pregnancy. Routine examinations will include blood pressure, body mass index, fetal heart rate, blood routine, urine routine, blood type (ABO and Rh), fasting blood sugar, liver function and kidney function, hepatitis B virus surface antigen, syphilis spirochete, HIV screening, and electrocardiogram, so that doctors can better understand the physical condition of the expectant mother and fetus. For expectant mothers who have not undergone premarital or pregnancy checkups, thalassemia screening will be added, and those who have pets at home will also need to add parasite checks. It is best to bring the expectant father along to the first prenatal check-up.

B. Key prenatal examination items: NT

Necessity of NT: In my country, doctors generally recommend nuchal translucency scans for people at high risk of Down syndrome, such as pregnant women over 35 years old, those who have given birth to a baby with Down syndrome, or those with a family history of giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome. Although a nuchal translucency scan cannot determine definitively whether the fetus is infected, it can help pregnant women decide whether further diagnostic testing is needed.

A nuchal translucency scan is a screening test used to assess whether a fetus may have Down syndrome. The NT test is different from diagnostic tests such as chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis. They can provide a definite diagnosis, but the NT test can only indicate the risk. To determine whether the fetus has chromosomal abnormalities, further chromosomal analysis is still required through chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis.

After reading the above article about what the 12-week prenatal check-up includes, I believe all pregnant mothers know that they must understand and master these aspects of life, and must be adequately prepared throughout the pregnancy. They must do relevant prenatal checkups during the regular pregnancy process and understand the fetus's condition in a timely manner. Pregnant women must also do all the necessary things to pay attention to.