Progressing In Your Pregnancy

Prenatal Visit Schedule

In the third trimester (weeks 28 to birth), you’ll have between 6-9 visits, based on your pregnancy risk factors. Your Provider will check your weight and blood pressure, and listen to baby's heart. These visits now also include measuring your uterus (fundal height) with a tape measure and feeling your belly. This is done to check your baby’s growth and position. 

At 28 weeks, your Provider visit will include:

  • Diabetes screening: If needed, your blood will be drawn 1 hour after drinking a sugary drink.  If your blood sugar is high, you’ll take a 3-hour test to see if you have diabetes during pregnancy.
  • Labs: A Complete Blood Count (CBC) will be taken to see if you have low iron during pregnancy.  HIV and Syphilis will also be drawn to see if you’ve been exposed.  This is done for every patient.
  • Vaccines: Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis (TDaP) is recommended to protect your baby against Pertussis (“whooping cough”) at birth.  Rhogam is given if you have Rh negative blood.  This prevents your body from making antibodies that can be harmful to future pregnancies.
  • Education: A nurse will discuss important details of your birth with you, including what to expect in the hospital, skin to skin contact, rooming in with your baby, and breastfeeding information and tips. 

Growth Ultrasound: This ultrasound may be performed after you are 28 weeks. This ultrasound measures the baby’s growth. It is also used to evaluate the baby’s general well-being. Your provider will let you know if this ultrasound or any others are necessary. 

ultrasounds

At 36 weeks, your Provider will:  

  • Test for Group Beta Strep (GBS).  This normal bacteria for adults can cause a dangerous infection for your baby during birth. About 33 in 100 people have GBS. If you have GBS, the treatment is antibiotics while you’re in labor.  
  • Discuss your birthing preferences, questions you have about birth, and review any situations that may cause baby to be born early. 

A fetal nonstress test (NST) is a test that checks your baby’s heartbeat patterns. It can show heart rate changes when the baby moves. It also shows changes when you have contractions, if you are having them. A fetal heart rate that speeds up when the baby moves means the baby is getting enough oxygen. A nonstress test is often done when there is any question about how the baby is doing during later pregnancy. Some patients with high-risk pregnancies are tested every week or twice a week in the third trimester. 

Late in the third trimester, your Provider will check to see how far baby’s head has dropped into your pelvis. If your baby is not head-down after 36 weeks, you may have a fetal ultrasound to confirm the position. Your Provider may discuss ways to gently turn the baby into a head-down position.  

Close to delivery, your cervix may be checked to see if it has begun to thin and open.