What to check for during the 16th week of pregnancy

Among the check-ups during the 16th week of pregnancy, the most important one is Down syndrome screening. No food or water is allowed after 12 o'clock at night the day before the test. Go to the hospital for the test on an empty stomach the next morning. In addition, the examination is also related to the menstrual cycle, weight, height, exact gestational age, and gestational age. It is best to consult a doctor for other preparations before the examination.

16 weeks pregnancy checkup items

Weight loss: It is very important to control weight gain during pregnancy. It is related to high blood pressure and diabetes during pregnancy, as well as the growth and development of stretch marks and postpartum recovery.

Blood pressure: Hypertension during pregnancy is a common high-risk pregnancy and must be checked at every prenatal checkup. Blood pressure values ​​are expressed as systolic pressure/diastolic pressure"

Pregnancy check-up: Check whether there are any abnormalities in the soft birth canal and the reproductive organs in the pelvis, and make an estimate of the delivery time in advance.

Uterine height: One of the data for determining the size of the uterus. It is helpful for dynamically observing the fetal development, estimating the baby's weight, and promptly treating abnormalities of pregnancy such as fetal language development delay and macrosomia.

Fetal heart rate: The fetal heart rate is regulated by the central nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system. The monitoring graph generated by recording the changes in the fetal heartbeat in an instant through data signals can be used to understand the response of the fetal heartbeat when the baby moves and when the uterus contracts, so as to infer whether the fetus in the uterine cavity is short of oxygen.

When is the best time to do Down syndrome screening?

The best time to do Down syndrome screening is between 15 and 20 weeks of pregnancy. Doctors recommend that Down syndrome screening should be done at 15 to 20 weeks, but each testing hospital has different conditions, so the actual time for Down syndrome screening should be announced by the hospital. This step can predict the possibility of a child being born stupid based on the test. The main purpose of Down syndrome screening is to avoid the risk of congenital malformation in the fetus to a certain extent.

How to judge the results of Down syndrome screening

Down syndrome screening is usually performed on the basis of a blood test between 15 and 20 weeks of pregnancy, which evaluates various different indicators in the blood, including:

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFp)

Estriol (uE3)

Inhibin-A

To distinguish the risk of Down syndrome screening, the key is to look at three big numbers:

1. The standard value of alpha-fetoprotein should be more than 2.5MoM. The lower the test value, the higher the chance that the fetus will suffer from Down syndrome.

2. The higher the level of chorionic gonadotropin, the higher the chance that the fetus will suffer from Down syndrome.

3. The alpha-fetoprotein value, human chorionic gonadotropin value, as well as the pregnant woman's age, weight, and gestational age are entered into a computer, which calculates the risk of the fetus having Down syndrome. The test data shows that the risk factor is less than 1/270, which means that the risk factor is relatively low and the chance of the fetus having Down syndrome is less than 1%. If the risk factor is higher than 1/270, it means that the risk of fetal illness is high and further amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling should be performed.

However, the calculation methods and standards of each hospital's outpatient department are not exactly the same. Some hospitals' outpatient standard values ​​are "less than 1/270" and some are "less than 1/380".