2618 YLH Screening tests for you and your baby
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When you first become pregnant
you will be offered various screening tests
to check on your health,
and the health of your baby.
Being screened is entirely your choice
and you will be provided with
plenty of information to help you decide.
You can go to this website and your midwife
will give you a leaflet called
“Screening tests for you and your baby”.
This timeline provides a really
useful summary of all the screening tests
that will be offered to you.
You will see that there are blood tests
and ultrasound scans
and if you have diabetes
there are some additional eye
screening tests.
As you can see from the timeline,
most of the tests are concentrated
in the first half of your pregnancy
as the aim of the screening programme
is to identify whether you or your baby
is at an increased risk of a disease,
or developing a condition or complication.
If necessary, we can then provide information,
further testing or appropriate treatment
so that you can reduce the risks
of any complications arising
from the disease or condition.
However, establishing the sex of your baby
is not part of the national screening programme
so please don’t expect to find this out
as a result of your tests.
When you first meet your midwife,
please make sure that you have
a note of the date of the first day
of your last period as this will help us
to plan your care and screening programme.
Remember, it is up to you to decide
whether you want any scans or tests
and please do ask if you have any questions.