Prenatal Care

What is Prenatal Care?

Prenatal care is a form of preventative health care provided to a pregnant woman to ensure her health and the health of her developing baby.

At prenatal visits, our physicians ask about any medical or health issues that you may have that could affect your pregnancy. We monitor blood pressure, weight gain, and will sometimes order blood tests or ultrasounds to monitor the pregnancy.

With regular prenatal care we hope to:

• Identify any preexisting health issues that could affect a pregnancy
• Reduce the risk of pregnancy complications by monitoring for conditions that can develop during pregnancy like gestational diabetes or high blood pressure
• Reduce the risk to the fetus by discussion issues like alcohol, marijuana use, or smoking during pregnancy
• Ensuring all medications a woman may be taking are safe during pregnancy
• Recommend proper supplements and vitamins for pregnancy

For any urgent health issues that arise during your pregnancy we always have a doctor on call at the Peter Lougheed Hospital.