Written by Dr Sam Saling for AJFN
B’sha’ah Tovah! We are delighted to hear your news.
Now what?
It can be an overwhelming minefield of information of appointments, supplements, scans, and more appointments. Here’s our one page checklist to make it simpler for you to know the essentials of managing a new pregnancy, and guide you through what needs to be done.
Pregnancy checklist:
- Confirm pregnancy with your GP
- Take a daily prenatal vitamin
- Book in your dating ultrasound after the 7 week mark
- Blood tests are needed before 8 weeks of pregnancy
- Get a referral to a private or public obstetric service, depending on your preference
- Ensure your GP and/or obstetrician and/or midwife knows about conditions that need special care in pregnancy, e.g. thyroid disease, diabetes
- A reminder to stay up to date with your cervical screening – let your GP know if this is overdue as it can be done in pregnancy!
- First trimester screening is done at 10-13 weeks of pregnancy and is done to identify pregnancies at a higher risk of chromosomal anomalies. There are two options:
- The newer Non Invasive Prenatal Test (NIPT)
- Combined first trimester screening
Discuss these with your doctor and which one (or both) is right for you!
- We recommend an early pregnancy morphology scan at 13 weeks gestation.
- Make sure you get your annual influenza vaccine – this protects both you and your baby.
- Your mood and mental health can change during pregnancy – in fact it’s common. Please tell your GP if this resonates with you to get the support you need for a thriving mind and pregnancy.
- The morphology scan is the ‘anatomy scan’ done at 18-20 weeks of pregnancy. Make sure you book this in well before it is due. Enjoy the images – it’s life’s greatest art!
- Book in for your pertussis vaccination with your GP, anytime from 20-32 weeks of pregnancy. This protects your baby in their first six weeks of life.
- Watch out for urinary tract infection signs. These are more common in pregnancy, and need timely management.
- The test for gestational diabetes (diabetes that develops in pregnancy) is done at 26-28 weeks gestation. Forgive us for the awful concentrated sugar hit!
- Ensure you have regular checkups with your GP, obstetrician, and/or midwife throughout your pregnancy. We recommend once a month initially, building up to every week in the last stage of pregnancy.
- Make sure you have emergency numbers for the delivery ward or obstetrician you are booked in with – save this in your phone!
Resources we recommend:
Pregnancy and Food Safety resource: https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumer/life-events-and-food/pregnancy/pregnancy-and-food-safety?utm_campaign=redirected
Pregnancy and Exercise resource:
https://www.gethealthynsw.com.au/program/get-healthy-in-pregnancy
About Dr Sam Saling
Dr Sam Saling is a general practitioner in inner Sydney. Her clinical interests include women’s health, in particular reproductive and antenatal care, child health, and dermatology. Outside of clinical practice she has held advocacy roles through the Australian Medical Association, and undertakes medical communication and strategy work for private enterprise and not-for-profit organisations.
Sam has seen firsthand how devastating fertility issues can affect families, and it is a privilege to accompany her patients on this journey. She is honoured to have served on the AJFN board in 2023 as Board Observer and is passionate about using her medical knowledge to assist AJFN and the community at large.
