Medical Care and Tests During Pregnancy
Your care team • What to expect • Common tests • How acupuncture fits into prenatal care
From the moment you discover you’re pregnant, one of the most supportive steps you can take is to begin regular prenatal care. The combination of medical monitoring and supportive therapies like acupuncture helps create the safest, calmest, and healthiest environment for you and your growing baby.
This guide walks you through:
- Choosing a care provider
- Visit schedule
- What happens at prenatal appointments
- Common screening tests
- Later-pregnancy monitoring
- Infection screening
- Fetal movement counting
How acupuncture complements all of this care
Getting Started: Choosing Your Prenatal Care Provider
As soon as you see a positive pregnancy test:
- Contact your family doctor, midwife, or maternity clinic.
- Begin or continue a prenatal vitamin with adequate folic acid and minimal additives.
Your main prenatal care options include:
Midwives
- Specialists in pregnancy and birth
- Longer appointments, strong emotional and educational support
- Provide full prenatal, birth, and postpartum care
- Covered by MSP in BC
Family Physicians (who deliver)
- Offer primary maternity care
- Appropriate for low-risk pregnancies
- Can order all tests and ultrasounds
- Deliver at specific hospitals
Obstetricians (OBs)
- Specialists in high-risk pregnancies
- Often consulted when complications arise
- Some accept patients from early pregnancy if preferred
Doulas
A doula is not a medical provider, but offers emotional, informational, and physical support throughout pregnancy, labour, and postpartum – often improving satisfaction and reducing anxiety.
Choose someone you trust, who listens, and who helps you feel safe.
You are allowed to ask questions, switch providers, or seek second opinions at any time.
Prenatal Visit Schedule
For a typical, healthy pregnancy:
- Every 4 weeks until 28 weeks
- Every 2 weeks from 28–36 weeks
- Every week from 36 weeks until birth
You may be seen more often if:
- You’re carrying twins or multiples
- You have pre-existing conditions
- Complications arise
- You’re over age 35
- Your provider needs closer monitoring
What Happens at Prenatal Visits?
Prenatal care is designed to monitor your health and your baby’s development, prepare you for birth, and provide emotional and educational support.
Your visit may include:
- Blood pressure check
- Weight and general health assessment
- Fundal height measurement (uterus growth)
- Listening to the baby’s heart rate
- Urine testing for protein, sugar, or infection
- Screening for swelling, headaches, or pain
- Guidance on nutrition, supplements, sleep, exercise
- Support for mental and emotional well-being
Time to ask questions – your concerns matter
Routine Blood Tests
Throughout pregnancy, routine blood tests help your provider monitor:
- Blood type & Rh factor (important for Rh incompatibility prevention)
- Complete blood count (screens for anemia)
- Rubella immunity
- Blood sugar (gestational diabetes screening)
- Hepatitis B, HIV, syphilis
- Thyroid function or vitamin levels (if needed)
These tests help detect concerns early so they can be managed safely.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound uses safe sound waves (not radiation).
You may receive:
Early Dating Ultrasound (7–11 weeks)
- Confirms pregnancy location
- Dates pregnancy accurately
- Confirms single or multiple pregnancy
Anatomy Scan (18–22 weeks)
- Detailed assessment of organs, brain, spine, limbs, face
- Checks placenta position and amniotic fluid
- Usually the longest and most detailed ultrasound
Some women receive additional ultrasounds to assess:
- Fetal growth
- Placenta health
- Amniotic fluid levels
Breech or cephalic position (later pregnancy)
Genetic & Chromosomal Screening (Optional)
Genetic screening is your choice. It provides risk estimates, not diagnoses.
Common options:
Nuchal Translucency (NT) Ultrasound (11–14 weeks)
Assesses risk of Down syndrome and other chromosomal conditions.
Serum Screening / “Prenatal Screening”
Blood tests that look at hormone and protein levels to estimate risks of:
- Down syndrome
- Trisomy 18
- Neural tube defects
NIPT (Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing)
A highly accurate blood test that analyzes fetal DNA.
Often done privately.
Diagnostic Tests (When Needed)
Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)
- 10–13 weeks
- Tests placental cells
- Slightly higher miscarriage risk than amnio
- Does not detect neural tube defects
Amniocentesis
- 15–20 weeks
- Tests amniotic fluid
- Detects chromosomal issues & neural tube defects
- Low additional miscarriage risk (less than 1 in 200–300)
Genetic counselling is available to help you navigate these choices.
Baby’s Well-Being Tests (Later Pregnancy)
Sometimes used when:
- Baby is measuring small or large
- You have high blood pressure or diabetes
- You’re past your due date
- There are concerns about movements
Non-Stress Test (NST)
Monitors baby’s heart rate and movement.
Biophysical Profile (BPP)
Assesses movement, breathing movements, muscle tone, fluid, placenta.
These tests are painless, safe, and reassuring.
Infection Screening
Your provider may screen for:
- Chlamydia
- Gonorrhea
- Syphilis
- HIV
- Hepatitis B
- UTIs
Group B Strep (GBS) – 35–37 weeks
- Vaginal/rectal swab
If positive, antibiotics are given during labour to protect baby
Fetal Movement Counting (Kick Counts)
Beginning around 28 weeks, monitoring your baby’s movement pattern is one of the easiest ways to ensure well-being.
How to do it:
- Choose a time when your baby is active (often after dinner).
- Lie on your side or sit quietly.
- Count 10 movements (kicks, rolls, jabs).
- Most babies achieve this within 30–60 minutes.
Call your provider if:
- You don’t feel 10 movements in 2 hours
- Baby’s movement pattern suddenly changes
- You haven’t felt baby move all day
Movement is one of the strongest indicators of baby’s health.
How Acupuncture Fits Into Medical Care in Pregnancy
Safe • Complementary • Supportive Throughout All Three Trimesters
Acupuncture is a safe, evidence-informed, and commonly used complementary therapy throughout pregnancy.
It does not replace medical care, but it works beautifully alongside it – supporting your body, your emotions, and many of the discomforts that arise as your baby grows.
Acupuncture can support:
- Hormonal balance in early pregnancy
- Nausea, vomiting, and food aversions
- Fatigue and mood swings
- Headaches and sinus pressure
- Constipation and digestion
- Sleep problems
- Back pain, pelvic pain, and sciatica
- Carpal tunnel and swelling
- Anxiety and emotional overwhelm
- Breech presentation (moxibustion at 34–36 weeks)
- Labour preparation (cervical ripening and relaxation beginning at 36–37 weeks)
Why so many pregnant women choose acupuncture:
- It is calming, deeply relaxing, and emotionally supportive
- It helps regulate the nervous system
- It promotes circulation to the uterus and placenta
- It reduces pain without medications
- It helps mothers-to-be feel more connected, grounded, and safe
At Yinstill, thousands of women have used acupuncture as part of their prenatal care – and many describe it as one of the most supportive parts of their pregnancy journey.
