Antenatal Checks

At each antenatal visit, your doctor will check you and your baby's well being. Please discuss any worries or questions that you may have.

Blood pressure (BP) needs to be checked to detect pregnancy induced hypertension or pre-eclampsia. High blood pressure may cause severe headaches or flashing lights. If this happens, tell your doctor immediately or inform the midwife of the maternity unit you have been booked in for delivery.

Urine tests A mid-stream urine sample (MSU) is collected in early pregnancy to check for infection. You will also be asked to supply a sample of your urine at each visit to check for protein (recorded as + or ++ = presence of), which may be a sign of pre-eclampsia.

Fetal movements (FM or FMF = fetal movements felt) You will usually start feeling some movements between 16 and 22 weeks. Later in pregnancy your baby will develop it's own pattern of movements. This will range from kicks and jerks to rolls and ripples. Sometimes your baby will hiccup. You will very quickly get to know the pattern of your baby's movements. At each antenatal contact your doctor will talk to you about this pattern of movements, which you should feel each day. A change, especially a reduction in movements, may be a warning sign that the baby needs checking by ultrasound and Doppler. Become familiar with your baby's typical daily pattern of movements and contact your doctor or maternity unit immediately if you feel that the movements have altered.

Fetal heart (FH or FHHR - fetal heart heard and regular). If you wish, your doctor can listen to the baby's heart with a Doptone (e.g. Sonicaid). With a doptone, you can hear the heartbeat yourself.

Liquor refers to the amniotic fluid, the water around the baby. A gentle examination of the abdomen can give an idea of whether the amount is about right (recorded as NAD, no abnormality detected, or just N), or whether there is suspicion of there being too much or too little, in which case an ultrasound is needed to check.

Lie and Presentation This describes the way the baby lies in the womb (e.g L = longitudinal; O = oblique, T = transverse), and which part it presents towards the birth canal (e.g head first or cephalic = C, also called vertex = Vx; bottom first or breech = B or Br).

Engagement is how deep the presenting part - e.g. the baby's head - is below the brim of the pelvis. It is measured by the proportion which can be still felt through the abdomen, in fifths: 5/5 = free; 4/5 = sitting on the pelvic brim; 3/5 = lower but most is still above the brim; 2/5 = engaged, as most is below the brim; and 1/5 or 0/5 = deeply engaged, as hardly still palpable from above. In first time mothers, engagement tends to happen in the last weeks of pregnancy; in subsequent pregnancies, it may occur later, or not until labour has commenced.

Internals/vaginal examinations are NOT usually done at antenatal visits unless there is a specific reason. Please discuss with your doctor if you have any concerns about this.