Prenatal care

• Prenatal care is the care you get while you’re pregnant.
• Regular prenatal care helps keep you and baby healthy.
• A doctor, midwife or other health provider gives this care.

Who: Offered to all pregnant women.

Why: To identify pregnancies at higher-than-average risk of certain serious birth defects, including neural tube defects, like spina bifida, and chromosomal abnormalities like Down syndrome.

When: First or second trimester.

How: Blood is taken from a woman's arm. The laboratory measures levels of certain substances in the mother's blood.

Risks: A little bruising or soreness at the needle site. Most abnormal test results are false alarms. Women with abnormal test results are usually offered further testing, such as ultrasound.

November 2008