Health and Wellness

The care you get while you are pregnant is an important part of a healthy pregnancy. Prenatal care is key. 

Join Our Prenatal Program. 

Please call 1-866-635-7045 (TTY 711).

See Your Provider. 

See your provider as soon as you know you are pregnant. Pregnant women should see a provider who specializes in delivery of their baby such as an OB/GYN, midwife, or APRN. Your provider can help you know if you may be at risk of having the baby too early. If the provider finds problems early, he or she may be able to stop or slow down those problems.

• Ask you about your other pregnancies or sicknesses
• Ask you about your mom, dad and grandparents' health and sicknesses
• Ask you if you have signed up for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
• Look in your ears, nose and throat
• Listen to your heart, lungs and stomach
• Look at your ankles for swelling
• Take blood to run some tests
• Give you any shots that you need
• Do an ultrasound to listen to the baby's heart rate and see how your baby is doing
• Teach you about what to eat, drink and do to have a healthy pregnancy

At each visit, your provider should:

• Take your weight and blood pressure
• Ask for a urine sample
• Measure your stomach to see how the baby is growing
• Listen to your stomach to hear the baby’s heart rate
• Ask if you feel the baby moving
• Ask if you are leaking any liquids
• Ask if you are eating and taking your vitamins
• Ask if you are walking, stretching, and bending
• Talk with you about the risks of smoking, drinking alcohol or using drugs and referrals for support
• Talk to you about changes in your body as the baby grows
• Ask how you and your family are feeling about the baby coming
• You will want to tell your doctor if you are feeling blue or down in the dumps
• Ask you about your personal safety at home

At the visit just before the baby is born, your provider should:

• Talk to you about how you can tell the baby is ready to be born
• Talk to you about what it feels like to have a baby
• Talk to you about work and going on trips away from home

• Ask how you and your family are feeling about the baby coming

• Talk to you about future babies and the most efficient and  reliable methods of contraception for you

At the first visit after the baby is born, your provider should:

• Take your weight and blood pressure
• Check to make sure your body is healing after the baby is born
• Check your breasts and ask if you are breastfeeding
• Ask if you are eating and taking your vitamins
• Ask if you are walking, stretching and bending
• Ask how you and your family are feeling about the baby
• Talk to you about future babies and the most efficient, reliable, and cost effective methods of contraception for you

Source: Guidelines for Perinatal Care, Fifth Edition, copyright © October 2002 by the American Academy of Pediatrics and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and supported in part by March of Dimes and the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) Standards for Access and Availability, copyright© 2007 by the National Committee for Quality Assurance

Visit WebMD for more information.