What tests should you do before pregnancy?

Pregnancy is not always planned. However, in recent years, couples have been making the necessary pre-pregnancy planning more consciously and have a healthier pregnancy. In this way, they do not put the health of their babies at risk.

An important part of pre-pregnancy planning is to detect possible diseases in advance and to take necessary precautions. For this purpose, it is beneficial for expectant mothers to have some tests before pregnancy. In cases where the pregnancy is not planned, it would be appropriate to perform these tests at the first pregnancy examination.

The recommended tests to be done before pregnancy are:

• Complete blood count: Anemia during pregnancy can lead to difficult pregnancy and malnutrition of the baby. On the other hand, bleeding disorders can cause serious problems during the birth phase. In addition, infections may cause problems due to drug use restrictions during pregnancy. For this reason, it is recommended for the expectant mother to have a complete blood count test and to determine the levels of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets before pregnancy.

• Thyroid function tests: Thyroid hormone is a necessary hormone for the expectant mother to have a healthy pregnancy and for the healthy development of the baby. The fetal thyroid gland may not function until the 20th week of pregnancy. The thyroid hormone needed for the development of the baby is dependent on the level of thyroid hormone that passes from the mother to the placenta. Defects in the thyroid hormone level of the expectant mother can cause serious problems such as stillbirth, fetal growth retardation, preterm birth, blood pressure changes during pregnancy, and cognitive dysfunction in the baby. For this reason, it is necessary to know the thyroid hormone levels of the expectant mother before pregnancy, and if there is a disorder, it should be corrected by intervention before pregnancy.
• Blood sugar: During pregnancy, it is desired that the fasting blood sugar level is 90 mg/dl, the postprandial blood sugar level is 120 mg/dl, and the HbA1C level is below 6%. Values above these values are considered gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes can cause problems such as anemia, miscarriage, blood pressure problems, and postpartum hemorrhages in the expectant mother. It brings risks such as decrease in amniotic fluid in the fetus, growth retardation, premature birth, and large baby. To determine this, a sugar load test can be done during pregnancy. Pregnancies with problems in blood sugar levels are considered risky pregnancies. For this reason, it would be beneficial for women who are planning pregnancy to have their blood glucose levels determined before this and to talk to the health team who will follow up.
• Liver tests: Liver diseases are not common during pregnancy. Sometimes, some physiological changes associated with pregnancy can mimic liver disease. In addition, the growing fetus may make it difficult to detect liver sizes. However, although it is not common, liver disease can sometimes cause life-threatening problems during pregnancy. Excessive nausea, vomiting, blood pressure problems, bleeding disorders, miscarriage, etc. risk develops. It’s a difficult pregnancy. Considering that intervention possibilities are also limited during pregnancy, it would be beneficial to detect liver diseases before pregnancy.
• Kidney tests: There are some important changes in the kidney and urinary tract during pregnancy. The kidneys are slightly enlarged, the urethra widens, the renal blood flow and filtration rate increase. When all these are combined with possible kidney diseases from pre-pregnancy, infections, kidney stones, kidney failures can be the cause. It will be useful to check the kidneys before pregnancy in order to prevent such problems.
• Infection tests: Diseases such as toxoplasma, rubella, syphilis, hepatitis, CMV (cytomegalovirus) and HIV/AIDS during pregnancy can cause important health problems. It is one of the biggest causes of congenital anomalies in the baby. For this reason, it may be necessary to perform antigen, antibody tests and screening tests for these diseases. Since most of these tests are sexually transmitted diseases, it would be useful to look at both the expectant mother and father-to-be.

• Urine tests: These are tests that can give simple but important results. Stones are suspected in the presence of bleeding, nutritional disorders in the presence of ketones, and infections in the presence of leukocytes. Protein leakage can be an indicator of kidney disease. For these reasons, it will be useful to have a urine test before pregnancy to have an idea about some diseases and to request further tests if necessary.
• Pap-smear : Pap-smear test is necessary for early diagnosis of cervix (cervical) cancers. It is applied to women of reproductive age in a screening style. It is the process of searching for pathological cells in samples taken from the cervix with the help of a brush under appropriate conditions. It is recommended to do a pap-smear test at least 3 months before pregnancy is planned.
• Blood group test : The blood group of the mother and father candidate should be determined. It can be beneficial for blood group incompatibilities, and when it is necessary to give blood or blood products to the expectant mother, the blood group should be known so that planning can be done.
• Vitamin values : The expectant mother should have a healthy diet during pregnancy. Therefore, a suitable nutrition program is beneficial. Determining the vitamin blood levels under the control of your dietitian or follow-up health team, taking supplements if there is a deficiency, will be beneficial in a healthy and trouble-free pregnancy period, and in the healthy development of the baby.
• Ultrasonography : It may be useful to examine female reproductive organs such as uterus and ovary before pregnancy and to evaluate anatomical disorders. In this way, miscarriage and stillbirths due to anatomical disorders will be prevented.