Calm your pregnancy health fears

Pregnancy throws up lots of new things to worry about. Tests, checks and scans will help to reassure you, but it's natural to want to know you and your baby are healthy and safe.

Seeing that little blue line appear on the test stick is a magical moment. But don’t be surprised if your feelings of excitement are swiftly followed by a flash of pure panic. It’s perfectly natural to be thrilled about your pregnancy but scared stiff at the same time – after all, it's a major life change!

Today I will mostly be worrying about…

If you had no idea you were pregnant, you’ll probably be hit with the new-mum guilts (the ‘Oh my God, is my baby OK?’ feeling) – especially if you were drinking like a trouper (rather than hitting the folic acid) in those first few weeks.

But rest assured, despite everything you throw at it, your growing baby is a pretty hardy thing in the early stages of pregnancy, and although it’s not an ideal start, your baby's likely to be fine. But from now on, it’s safer to stick to government guidelines of one or two units of alcohol once or twice a week.

If you’re a smoker, it is vital to try to give up now, as even a few cigarettes a day could affect your baby’s growth or cause respiratory problems in later life. Speak to your midwife or your GP for help, or call the NHS Pregnancy Quitline on 0800 169 9169.

Early bleeding

The next early pregnancy bogeyman is miscarriage – textbooks and leaflets will terrify you with their scary statistics, stating the most risky time's up till 12 weeks, and as many as one in 10 pregnancies end this way.

Remember: this means the vast majority of mums go on to have healthy babies. If you do miscarry, this is most likely down to problems with the developing baby, rather than due to anything you’ve done, taken, eaten or drunk.

It’s also important to remember one of the symptoms of miscarriage – bleeding – can be put down to a whole host of non-scary causes.

So if you get a bit of spotting (and studies show that around 20 to 30% of women bleed in the first 20 weeks) always check with your GP or midwife, but don’t automatically assume the worst.

Research shows if the baby’s heartbeat is detectable at eight weeks, the pregnancy has a 96% chance of a successful outcome.

Ease your troubles

Another joy of reading textbooks is the long list of unpleasant and sometimes downright bizarre symptoms you can rack up in early pregnancy – heard of excessive saliva (pytalism) anyone? Itchy bumps? Swollen hands? Funny veins? Skin tags?

The tick-list of niggles can be a pain if you’re either end of the spectrum. If you’ve got no symptoms at all, it’s natural to worry that the pregnancy isn’t ‘real’ or won’t last (not helped by well-meaning relatives going on about how morning sickness means a strong pregnancy).

And if you’ve been suffering from nausea and vomiting for months, it can be hard to be to happy about being pregnant – as well as worrying whether your baby could be feeling as bad as you are!

Don't forget: your baby won’t be affected by any of your pregnancy symptoms (or the lack of them) and every woman experiences pregnancy differently. Just because your mum or best mate felt this or did that doesn’t mean you will too.

Pregnancy tests and checks
 
0 to 12 weeks

You'll be offered a dating scan and screening tests. You'll also have blood pressure and urine tests (this may be done over two appointments).
 
16 weeks

The results of screening tests will now be through and you'll have more blood pressure and urine tests.
 
18 to 20 weeks

You'll be offered another ultrasound scan to check the baby's development (this is already current practice in most areas).
 
25, 28, 31 and 34 weeks

At each visit, you'll have your abdomen checked, and have more blood and urine tests.
 
36 weeks

The position of your baby will be checked - she should be head-down by now. Again, your blood pressure and urine will be checked.
 
38 and 40 weeks

More abdomen, blood and urine checks.