Checks and assessments a mother and baby

The first check a mother will have to do is a check for pregnancy, the mother will first get symptoms of pregnancy after the egg has gone into the lining of the uterus, once this has happened the mother will produce a hormone which can be detected in the women’s urine. To test for pregnancy, women usually use pregnancy tests which is a urine test, some women also go to their doctors who can also do tests on them. Antenatal care Antenatal care is to help the mother have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

The mothers first antenatal appointment will be at 12 weeks, at this appointment the doctor will take the mothers medical history, the information they will take is, Details about previous pregnancies. The mother’s family history, if there are any illnesses in the family or history of twins. About the mother’s menstrual cycle, when her last period was. The mother’s medical history, if the mother has any illnesses. The doctor will then take clinical tests they will take the mothers, height, weight and blood pressure.

Mothers will go to an antenatal appointment monthly and more often I a problem has been found. Screening Tests These tests help doctors tell whether a baby has certain conditions such as down’s syndrome. Example of screening tests are, Ultrasound scan – these are used to see how the baby is developing. Mothers have ultrasounds throughout their pregnancy, they can have one at around 8 weeks this is to see if there is more than one baby, they also check for signs of miscarriage.

At 13 weeks mothers can have an ultrasound to determine the gender of their baby. At 22 weeks the mother has another ultrasound and this is to check the baby’s organs. Nuchal Fold translucency test – This test checks for downs syndrome, mothers get offered this at 11-14 weeks. The doctor will measure the thickness of the fluid on the back of the baby’s neck because if the baby does have down’s syndrome they have more fluid.

“The amount of post-natal a mother needs is determined on whether the mother’s family life and her additional needs”. Every mother will have a midwife for 10 days after the baby is born and if the mother had a complicated birth this will be extended to 28 days, in this time the midwife will provide the mother with help and advice they will also do some checks on the mother to check that they are healing correctly. After 10 days a health visitor will visit the mother and baby at home, during these visits the health visitor will,

Check if the baby is making progress in their development. Go over a timetable of immunisations that the baby will need to have. Give the parents details about local baby clinics that they can visit. Six weeks after birth the mother will go to the GP for some tests, they will test her, Blood Pressure Weight – if the mother is breastfeeding they will lose weight quickly so the doctor will want to track how fast they are losing weight and whether they are back to their pre-pregnancy weight.

Urine test – to check that the mother’s kidneys are functioning properly. The baby will also have a six-week check, the doctor will check that the baby’s health and development is like it should be. The baby’s height and weight is measured and they will also listen to the baby’s heart. The mother will have to fill out a personal child health record, this is also known as a red book. 6 – 9 Month check At some point between 6-9 months the doctor or the health visitor will want to do some checks on the baby. They will,

Measure the baby’s head circumference and weight, they will plot this on the baby’s growth chart to see how much they have developed. They listen to the baby’s heart. The baby’s eyes are checked. Sometimes they check the baby’s hearing. The baby’s physical development. The baby will also get given any vaccinations that they are due to get given.

References – Books – Cache Level 3, childcare and education (2015) early years educator, Carolyn Meggitt, Hodder Education Websites – https://www. babycentre. co. uk/a569381/newborn-baby-tests-and-checks