Testing in the Early Months

Your health care provider may want to do some tests during your first trimester. This is normal. Be sure to have these tests, even though your life is busy with many new concerns.

Blood Tests

In your first trimester, you will have blood tests to help assess your health. You may only need to have blood drawn once for a group of these tests. They may help find problems that could affect your pregnancy if left untreated. For instance, some tests reveal diseases that could be passed on to your baby, such as HIV.

Testing for Rh Negative Blood

Early in your pregnancy your blood will be tested to see if it is Rh negative. If your blood is Rh negative and your baby's is Rh positive, you may form antibodies. These antibodies may fight the baby's blood. This is called Rh disease. Rh disease may cause your baby to lose blood cells or to have health problems. If you're Rh negative, you'll have more blood tests during your pregnancy. You will also receive RhoGam (medication that prevents Rh antibodies from forming).

Blood tests also check for anemia, hepatitis, rubella (German measles), sexually transmitted diseases and possibly toxoplasmosis, a disease contracted from cat litter.

Other Routine Tests

• Urine sample.  Your urine is analyzed for levels of protein and sugar, and for any infection.

• Gonorrhea culture. Tests for the presence of this sexually transmitted disease.

• Pap smear. Tests or the presence of abnormal cervical cells.

Further Testing

If there are special concerns with your pregnancy, you may have further testing in these early weeks:

• CVS (chorionic villi sampling ). This tests for certain genetic problems. A sample of cells ("chorionic villi") is removed from the tissue that later becomes the placenta. The genetic material in the cells is then studied.

• Other tests.  Depending on your ethnic background and family history, other tests may be added. These could include tests for sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, Tay-Sachs disease, or cystic fibrosis.