Prenatal Blood Tests

I don't recall having anything like that done prior to or during either pregnancy. I know because my husband is from Eastern Europe they do a simple blood test to test for diseases they tend to carry, but nothing more than an extra vial when doing your routine pregnancy blood tests. Genetic testing is usual only done in certain circumstances where there is family history or multiple miscarriages.

I too like someone below opted out of anything other than routine testing. A friend was told her baby had a 65% changce of having Down's and she went through her whole pregnancy worrying about that and other health issues only to have a perfectly healthy child. At that early, they give you the option to "terminate" if they find something abnormal and ther are a lot of times when NOTHING IS WRONG. I didn't want to go through that extra worry.

If you are in general good health, non-smoking, minimal or no drinking, you are probably fine. Many people are reassured to get a pre-conception OB exam (and it seems that is encouraged here). The blood testing they do when you are pregnant is not entirely the same. I don't remember anything having to do with immunization schedules with either of my boys. One thing you will want to do is make sure you are taking a pre-natal vitamin with enough folic acid before conceiving. It is good to get that built-up beforehand as it is essential for spinal development. Good luck!

Don't get overwhelmed with these things. Get a general physical, see your ob/gyn for your regular check up, start a prenatal vitamin which your obgyn will prescribe and you are ready to go. The screenings start after you are pregnant. Good luck!

Vaccinations up to date? What? The only thing they might want to test is if you are immune to chicken pox or rubella. Having chicken pox when you deliver is very dangerous. I never had chicken pox, am not immune, and was teaching public school when I was pregnant with my first. I made the decision NOT to get the vaccine, since it is one of those grown in a tissue line from an aborted baby and has some questionable ingredients I didn't want my baby exposed to in utero. I was teaching high school, so chicken pox wasn't a big issue, anyway, and my students knew my situation, as well. If you've never had chicken pox, you might want to have your titers tested to see if you are immune. I also opted out of genetic testing - many of my friends had testing that left them needlessly worried for 8 months, rather than enjoying what turned out to be a perfectly normal pregnancy. The most important thing to do before you try to get pregnant is to clean up your diet and lifestyle for 3-6 months so your body is at its optimum to conceive and carry (if you're like me, you won't be able to eat anything for a few months, so it's good to have a healthy body when you start!). Check out www.westonaprice.org for a conception/pregnancy diet that can't be beat. Eat well, live right, and don't overthink it - it's what your body was made to do, not some sort of medical event requiring endless intervention. Good luck!

Most women get pregnant then get the testing. Regarding immunizations being up-to-date: If you are found to have low or no immunity to specific diseases (i.e. rubella, chicken pox), you will be recommended to avoid contact with anyone who has a rash or fever during pregnancy or anyone with these known diseases. Since the rubella & varicalla (chicken pox) vaccines are live-virus vaccines, you cannot get them in pregnancy.

If your intent is to get immunized prior to pregnancy, you must continue to use a reliable birth control(you must wait 30-60 days to attempt conception - check cdc.gov vaccine information to get more specifics).

Regarding genetic testing:

You can get tested prior to pregnancy. You have to ask yourself, what will I do with the information? If you find out that you and your husband are carriers for the same genetic disease, will you have children? Will you have CVS or amnio? Will you terminate a disease effected fetus? Do you want to know just so that you can mentally prepare yourself to take care of a child with a life-threatening disease?

I chose to have the genetic testing prior to pregnancy - both my husband & I are cystic fibrosis (CF)carriers (defect of the sodium channels resulting in severe respiratory & gastrointestinal disease). We decided to get pregnant and now have a beautiful one year old son, who is a carrier for CF (no disease). I had a CVS at 10 weeks to determine his status.

Good luck with your decisions!

Dear Li-

With my first pregnancy, which occurred in September 2006 when I was 28 YO, I do not recall being tested for immunizations; however, there were a ton of blood draws in the first 12 weeks so it is possible that the OB ordered something like that and I never realized it.

With this pregnancy (I am now 32 weeks and due in September), NJ (where my OB and hospital both are) changed the rules and regulations with regards to HIV/Aids testing. You always have the right to refuse, but then they would have stuck the baby when born so I consented to the testing. They took an extra vial of blood at 8 weeks to run and again recently at 24 weeks I believe.

I have ALOT more experience with genetic testing. My husband's sister has Downs so even though I was not a "critical" age with either pregnancy, we obtained a referal for Maternal Fetal Medicine both times. They are associated with Valley Hospital and were WONDERFUL. We waited to get counseling until after we were preggers but certain things like the family genetic tree (i.e. nationalities back to great grandparents or further if possible on all sides), genetic testing for my hubby to see if the Downs was due to a "tag" or "tail" attached to a gene that could be replicated by his body and even my genetic profile could have all been done ahead of time. I do not know if my insurance would have covered it though. It was not an issue once I was pregnant.

In addition, there is certain "genetic" testing that can only be done once you are preggers. Things like the nucleotranslucey (sp??), using an ultrasound to identify abnormalities or potential problems with "typically" affected bady parts like the nose, sternum, heart, etc.

If you have questions or concerns, I would talk with your OB. I had a pre-pregnancy "screening" for overall health and whatnot and they should be able to guide you through the process better than any of us here at Mamasource could.

Best of luck.
~C.

I went to me ob/gyn when we decided we were ready to start trying. I did find out that I was not immune to the chicken pox and needed to be vaccinated again. This way your doctor will make sure you get started on prenatal vitamins before you start trying and be a support throughout the process.

Good luck!

The immunization check should be done before you get pregnant as you don't want to get those shots once you are pregnant. There really is no need to have genetic testing unless you have reason to think you should. Your doctors office will draw blood once you are pregnant and ask all kinds of questions. For example, are you jewish or of eastern European heritage? If so, they may draw more blood from you to test you early on. If you have family that has cystic fibrosis or any other genetic disorders you should be tested before hand.

It can't hurt to go to the dr. and get some general bloodwork. Also, go to the OB/GYN to get screened for various STDs (they will do that once you are PG but why wait). Otherwise, get to trying!! :)

Hi Li,
It's not a bad idea to go for a pre-conception checkup with your OB or midwife. I did this before getting pregnant with my first child 15 years ago. At the time, my doctor said that she'd never had anyone do that before, but time has passed and more women are going for a pre-conception visit - but more women don't and somehow it all works out.

M.

didn't read all your responses but my answer is YES - if you know ahead of time that you're going to be trying, you should go for an exam with a full workup to be most prepared! Most OBGYNs will be more than happy to do some basic or more comprehensive testing before you start. They should also go over thing like taking prenatal vitamins or anything else they feel is important. You should be able to ask them any questions you have about which immunizations are important to have.
GOOD LUCK!! :)

before getting pregnant, I was enrolled in a Master's program and the college required proof of immunization before allowing me to register for classes. I had blood work done at my PCP and needed a rubella booster. I then had to wait 3 months before becoming pregnant. In that time I also had an OB/GYN appointment. She tested to see if I was a carrier to cystic fibrosis, Tay Sachs and a few other genetic disorders. Luckily I was not a carrier to any of the disorders that she tested for. It is a great idea to have the tests done just to be on the safe side. I also had an amnio because I am an "advanced maternal age" mom at 37 when I was pregnant. (Great way to make one feel old!)
Good luck to you and your husband!!

The best thing to do is to get a physical from your family dr. and a check up from your ob/gyn. They'll make sure you're set to get pregnant and let you know if you're up to date on your blood tests. Most of the blood tests are done after you're pregnant (unless you know of problems that run in your family that you want to check on earlier). Good luck.

My husband and I both went for complete physicals including blood work prior to going off of the pill. My OB wanted to make sure that everything was up-to-date and fine before we tried and ended-up frustrated.

Call your general doctor and schedule physicals. Explain why and make sure you ask that blood work be included. Your insurance should cover one physical every-other-year.

Good luck!

You can go see your doctor before you start to conceive but I don't think the majority of people do unless there is a significant concern abou genetic illnesses. Our son was planned and I didn't do any of that until I went to the doctor after confirming my pregnancy via an at home test. At that visit (I think it was at 8 weeks) they tested me to see if I carried HIV, Cystic Fybrosis, and Fragile X. Depending on your ethnicity or family history you can get more tests. Call and ask your doctor and don't worry about it.

You are smart to think about this before becoming pregnant. Very impt --you should have the test done to be sure you have immunity to Rubella. We were TTC and I found out that I did not have immunity --I have records from my pediatirican that I had at least one of the immuizations for Rubella but somehow I didn't have immunity. I had to get the shot --and then my ob/gyn told me I had to wait THREE MONTHS to TTC --if I became pregnant during that time, it would be dangerous to the baby. I was really upset at the delay. My primary care doctor researched it for me and I contacted the CDC --they had changed the wait to thirty days. Just be aware of getting that test done!
good luck!!

Hi Li!

As others have said, you are very smart to be concerned about this. Both my husband and I went for physicals and for genetic counseling before we tried to get pregnant. During the blood tests for me, they discovered that I was not immune to Rubella and I had to have a booster shot!

It is so important that you make sure your immunizations are up to date, and also that you find out if you or your husband carry any markers for genetic diseases. For instance, since I am of Eastern European Jewish descent, I was tested to see if I was a carrier for Tay-Sachs, which, thank God, I do not carry...but it was a possibility based strictly on my background. If I had turned out to be a carrier, they would have then tested my husband, who is not of the same background and therefore was less likely to carry such a disease than I was. There are other genetic diseases that are carried by certain ethnic groups, and you need to know if you or your husband might carry something.

Doing this before you start trying to get pregnant is a really good idea and you are very smart to think about it. :)

Good luck to you and your husband!

S. :)