Antenatal Screening

Test carried out during pregnancy to check for abnormalities ,disorders or infection in the mother or her unborn baby.
there are some common antenatal screening during pregnancy but some tests are not necessary to do all other than any special cases.

Blood tests

• To check the woman's blood group and,sometimes to check for presence of hepatitis B virus which might be transmitted to the baby.
• To check foe anemia in the woman and with Rh-negative blood groups,to look for the presence of Rhesus antibodies.
• To screen for immunity to rubella which can cause defects in the baby,and for syphilis and other possible infections.
• In some cases, the amount of alpha-fetoprotein in the blood is determine whether baby has spina bifida.

Blood and Urine Tests

• To check for diabetes mellitus
• May be administered to assess placental function and well-being of the fetus.

Urine tests

• To check proteinuria,which could indicate a urinary tract infection or pre- eclamsia.

Cervical smear

• To test for an early cancer of the cievix(if a test has not been performed recently)

Blood pressure check

• To screen for hypertension ,which interferes with blood supply to the placenta and is a sign of pre- eclampsia

Chorionic villus sampling

• May be perfomed if there is a risk of certain genetic (inherited)disoders being passed on.

Ultrasound scanning

• Is carried out to date the pregnancy accurately and to detect any abnormalities present in the fetus.
• Extra scans may be recommended to assess fetal growth and development,the location of the placenta,and the amount of amniotic fluid.

Amniocentesis

• Carried out an older women and those who have children with spina bifida or Down's syndrome to detect possible abnormalities in the fetus.

Fetoscopy and fetal blood sampling

• In some cases these are carried out if there is doubt about the normality of the baby.

Electronic fetal monitoring

• To check n the fetal heart beat.