Your first antenatal visit

A positive home test is exciting and slightly terrifying in equal measure. The first antenatal visit is where the uncertainty starts to settle — it establishes your dates, checks that everything is where it should be, and sets up the plan for the next nine months.

When to book

Ideally between 6 and 8 weeks, counted from the first day of your last period. Earlier than 6 weeks and a scan may not yet show a heartbeat, which causes needless worry and usually means repeating it.

Come sooner — the same week — if you have bleeding, severe one-sided pain, or if you've had an ectopic pregnancy or recurrent miscarriage before.

What to bring

• The date of the first day of your last menstrual period
• Any previous pregnancy records, including delivery details
• A list of medicines and supplements you're currently taking
• Details of any long-term conditions — thyroid, diabetes, blood pressure, epilepsy
• Your and your partner's blood group, if known
• Any recent blood test or scan reports

What happens on the day

Expect the first visit to be the longest — usually 20 to 30 minutes.

1. History — your cycles, past pregnancies, medical and surgical history, family history, medications and allergies
2. Examination — blood pressure, weight, height and a general check
3. Dating scan — confirms the pregnancy is in the uterus, checks the heartbeat and gives an accurate due date
4. Discussion — supplements, diet, what's safe, what to avoid, and warning signs

An early scan is usually done abdominally, but a transvaginal scan gives a clearer picture in the first trimester and is completely safe in pregnancy.

Tests and scans

A standard first-visit blood panel usually includes:

Test	Why it's done
Haemoglobin & complete blood count	Anaemia is common and very treatable
Blood group & Rh typing	Identifies Rh-negative mothers who need anti-D
Blood sugar	Baseline for gestational diabetes screening
Thyroid function (TSH)	Untreated thyroid disease affects the baby's development
HIV, hepatitis B, VDRL	Routine screening; all are treatable in pregnancy
Urine routine	Detects silent urinary infections

You'll also be started on folic acid if you aren't already taking it — it reduces the risk of neural tube defects, and is most valuable in the first trimester.

Questions worth asking

Write these down beforehand. It is genuinely hard to remember them in the room.

• What is my due date, and how confident are we in it?
• Which of my current medicines are safe to continue?
• How often will I need to come in, and when is the next scan?
• What symptoms should make me call immediately?
• Is there anything in my history that makes this pregnancy higher risk?
• What should I be eating, and is there anything I should stop?

After the visit

You'll leave with a due date, a supplement plan, a set of test requests and a date for the next appointment. In an uncomplicated pregnancy, visits are roughly every four weeks until 28 weeks, every two weeks until 36 weeks, then weekly until delivery.

Nausea, tiredness and tender breasts in the first trimester are normal, even when severe enough to be miserable. Bleeding, severe pain or persistent vomiting that stops you keeping fluids down are not — call the clinic.