Prenatal Care – Treatment, Effects & Risks
Prenatal care
Prenatal care is a preventive health service for pregnant women. It consists of preventive examinations and optional additional examinations for women in risk groups. Prenatal care begins from the medical determination of the pregnancy and ends shortly before the birth of the baby, to be replaced by the aftercare for woman and child.
What is prenatal care?
Prenatal care is a voluntary but recommended preventive care program for pregnant women. These are routine examinations which can be supplemented by voluntary additional examinations if necessary.
Prenatal care is fully covered by health insurance – unless the woman wishes a further examination outside the routine and voluntary offers. While there is no compulsion to attend routine antenatal check-ups, if this jeopardises the child’s welfare, the pregnant woman can be held accountable retrospectively for failing to do so. If the woman is employed, her employer must release her from work for the duration of each prenatal care.
The size, growth and development of the child are examined, and his general state of health is also examined. Discussions with the doctor, weight and blood pressure measurement as well as blood samples and urine samples contribute to the precaution for the woman. As part of the voluntary examinations, tests are carried out on a case-by-case basis for hereditary diseases of the child. Furthermore, prenatal care serves the expectant mother as an opportunity to ask individual questions to the attending gynecologist.
Function, impact & goals
Most pregnancies proceed without major problems; small difficulties are often easier to treat with early detection than if they were detected later. Therefore, prenatal care is mainly used for the early detection of high-risk pregnancies, health problems of mother and child and, of course, the detection of hereditary diseases or congenital disorders of the child. The following procedures are used in routine antenatal check-ups:
- Blood sampling (blood values, test for deficiency symptoms, rubella test)
- Test for gestational diabetes
- Vaginal and cervical swab
- Palpation examination of the cervix
- Weight control of the mother
- Examination of children’s heart sounds
More is usually not required. Shortly before the birth, the gynecologist will talk to the woman about the birth, prepare her for it and, if necessary, make a recommendation for a cesarean section. In the presence of a high-risk pregnancy of the mother, for example due to the age of the woman, gestational diabetes or previous difficult pregnancies, further examinations are possible in order to identify and exclude the risks arising therefrom:
- First trimester screening with nuchal fold measurement
- Triple test (blood test to detect hormones that indicate diseases in the child)
- Amniocentesis collection and analysis
- Toxoplasmosis screening test
- Test for streptococci B, chickenpox antibodies, cytomegaly infection
- Chorionic villus sampling
These examinations serve the early detection of hereditary diseases such as trisomy 21 and are particularly recommended for women aged 35 and over. In exceptional cases, parents can still opt for a late abortion of a hereditarily ill child if this would massively restrict his and their quality of life or if the child would not be viable at all.
Such examinations in the context of prenatal care enable detection and allow parents to make a decision in an emergency. Furthermore, it can be determined whether the mother needs vaccinations to produce antibodies against diseases dangerous for her and the child if a previous vaccination no longer offers protection.
Risks, side effects & dangers
Most prenatal examinations are completely harmless for mother and child. This applies to all examination procedures of regular prenatal care without IGeL services (these include optional services, such as ).Only unpleasant can be some examinations, such as the smear or the blood sample – here it is important for the woman to visit a gynecologist in whom she has confidence. At best, he can also accompany her through the birth, as he already knows her by then and has monitored her state of health in recent months. In the case of IGeL benefits of prenatal care, on the other hand, depending on the examination, there are risks for mother and child, about which the pregnant woman is informed in individual cases. Some methods of prenatal diagnosis, such as amniocentesis, are invasive.
In this, for example, the uterus is punctured with a needle and amniotic fluid is removed from the amniotic sac; Risks could be the leakage of amniotic fluid, healing complications of the injection site and, in extremely rare cases, injuries to the child. Therefore, in these procedures of prenatal care, benefit and risk are weighed and the gynecologist then makes a recommendation that the woman can follow. Of course, the woman can also refuse any examination of prenatal care, be it an additional service or part of the routine, if she does not want to accept it.
However, if there is no high-risk pregnancy or if the gynecologist does not expressly advise a potentially risky examination, prenatal care for mother and child is very low-risk. Furthermore, prenatal care can detect life-threatening situations such as However, if there is no high-risk at an early stage, so that treatment can be initiated and the health or life of mother and child is no longer at stake.
Hello! I am Lisa Newlon, and I am a medical writer and researcher with over 10 years of experience in the healthcare industry. I have a Master’s degree in Medicine, and my deep understanding of medical terminology, practices, and procedures has made me a trusted source of information in the medical world.