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Pre-Pregnancy
THE IMPORTANCE OF A PRECONCEPTION CHECKUP
By Michele Meyer
Why should you head to your obstetrician's office as soon as you plan
to become pregnant? "Most women don't even realize they're pregnant
until after the first crucial weeks have passed, when the baby's organs
have started to form," says Nancy Eriksen, M.D., associate professor of
maternal fetal medicine at the University of Texas, in Houston. "A
preconception checkup is absolutely vital for a person with a personal
history of birth defects or an underlying medical condition."
Your OB/GYN can:
- Discuss what precautions you should take if you have high blood
pressure or diabetes, the latter of which can put your baby at up to
triple the risk of birth defects. Other conditions you'll need to
monitor include heart disease, asthma, lupus, and epilepsy.
- Let you know if any prescription drugs you're taking may harm
your baby, such as antibiotics (tetracycline), blood thinners,
antiseizure drugs (Dilantin), acne-preventives (Accutane), and
blood-pressure reducers (ACE inhibitors). Other drugs that may hurt the
baby include aspirin, antihistamines, and diet drugs.
- Determine if your child is at risk for seizures, mental
disabilities, or birth defects such as cystic fibrosis, muscular
dystrophy, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, or Tay-Sachs disease.
- Give you a prescription for prenatal vitamins that contain 400
micrograms of folic acid, a supplement essential to helping prevent the
birth defect spina bifida. If taken within four weeks of conception,
the vitamin thwarts this defect, occurring in one of 1,000 births, in
which the spinal column does not properly close.
- Provide you, if needed, with a measles, mumps, tetanus, polio,
rubella, or hepatitis B vaccine at least three months before you get
pregnant, to protect the baby.
- Give you guidelines on how to reduce your weight if you're
more than 20 pounds overweight, which may put you and the baby at
greater risk.
- Offer nutrition and exercise guidelines.
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About The Author
Michele Meyer is a regular contributor to Your Baby Today.
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