im currently 8 weeks pregnant and living in mexico where i have no health coverage and little money. ill be here until the end of April, so im wondering what you would suggest to me as being the most important prenatal exams to have? in canada health care is free so they do all kinds of exams and its hard for me to decide which one seems the most important. thanks for your help
Congratulations! Hopefully, someone who is currently, or was recently, pregnant will come along and help you answer this.
Congrats mama, I am 6 weeks from what I understand,early prenatal care is useful for catching any birth defects and detecting any factors that could make you a high risk pregnancy. I think you should be okay as long as you have access to prenatal vitamins and eat a healthy diet. I would ask the opinion of a doctor though Edit: I misread you. I thought You wouldn't have access to a doctor at all until April. I haven't been to the doctor yet so not sure which exams are the most important.
@Aerianne: thanks! @Meliai: hey congratulations to you, moma! ive read a lot of stuff trying to decide what would be the most necessary prenatal appointments to go to, but seeing as im not a doctor, they all seem, well important!! i can see a doctor here, but i have to be selective about what i do-- i have limited cash! i know about the rh thing and i know that i have a postive rh, so i think that means im in the clear. maybe when you go to your first prenatal appointment you might remember to ask your doctor what they would suggest? ill be here until april and i can afford to spend some money on doctors. oh and a multi vitamin with folic acid and a nice diet (food here is cheap! and fruits are fresh!)
In Ireland where I live in the 1st four months nothing much is done for the average pregnancy(one where there are no known risk factors like age ,family history etc). If I remember right all that was done was a checking of blood pressure and they checked the babies heartbeat. Over here its once you hit 20wks you get blood tests done and a scan. If everything with those goes well with those your blood pressure, urine, weight, fundal height and heart beat are checked periodically. Of course pregnancy is a really worrying time but unless you have certain concerns or risk factors I would try not to worry too much. I hope you have a happy and healthy 9mnths!