What to Discuss With Your Doctor Before Pregnancy

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Make a list of all medications you take on a regular basis. Be sure to include both prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Some medications that are harmless before pregnancy can be quite dangerous to developing babies. So, that over the counter nasal spray or prescription acne medication you use? Ask your doctor now whether or not they're safe to use during pregnancy. If they're not, eliminate them from your system now, before you conceive.

Talk to your doctor about replacing current medications with one that's pregnancy safe or, if possible, consider giving up that particular treatment until after baby is born and done nursing. (Always check with the prescribing doctor before stopping ANY prescribed medications.)

FDA Drug Safety Rankings
The Food and Drug Administration monitors the effects of drugs on mothers-to-be and their babies and classifies drugs into five categories of safety. Talk to your doctor about the ratings of the medications you take to assess potential harm to you or the fetus.

Category A drugs: Studies in pregnant women have failed to demonstrate a risk to the fetus in any trimester of pregnancy, i.e., recognized as safe to use.

Category B drugs: Studies in pregnant women have not shown increased risk of fetal abnormalities despite adverse findings in animals. The chance of fetal harm is remote, but remains a possibility.

Category C drugs: Studies in pregnant women are lacking, and animal studies have shown a risk to the fetus. There is a chance of fetal harm if the drug is administered during pregnancy, but the potential benefits may outweigh the potential risk.

Category D drugs: Studies have shown fetal risk.

Category X drugs: Studies have provided positive evidence of fetal abnormalities and the risk clearly outweighs any benefit to pregnant women.

Have you ever had any sexually transmitted diseases?
STDs can cause serious problems during pregnancy for both mother and baby. Mothers with Chlamydia may give birth to babies with conjunctivitis, an eye condition. Syphilis may lead to low birth weight, premature births and even congenital syphilis, i.e. the baby is born infected.

Specifically, your doctor wants to know if your have or have ever had:

• Gonorrhea
• Chlamydia
• Genital Herpes Simplex
• Syphilis
• HIV (AIDS)
• Venereal Warts

Do you have a history of a complicated pregnancy?
Each pregnancy is unique. Just as you will love each of your children for his or her unique qualities, you'll notice the differences in each pregnancy.

With that in mind, it's important for your doctor to understand your complete pregnancy history. The doctor needs to know about issues that arose in past pregnancies, when and how the deliveries occurred, the health of your other children and a lot more.

It's important to be open and honest with your medical caregiver about your pregnancy history, including pregnancies that ended in miscarriage or that were terminated. This information is nothing to keep secret from your doctor.

Any problem in your past pregnancy should be discussed including:

• Recurrent miscarriages
• Stillbirth
• Low birth weight (IUGR) or large for gestational age infants (LGA)
• Diabetes or gestational diabetes
• Genetic disorders such as Tay Sachs Disease
• Last baby with a congenital defect such as a neural tube defect or gastroschisis

Are you up-to-date on vaccinations?
Some infections during pregnancy can cause birth defects or illness in a fetus. All of these infections can be prevented with the right vaccinations. Ask your doctor if you need to be immunized against measles, mumps, tetanus, polio, hepatitis, chickenpox or German measles. Even if you've been vaccinated before, your immunity to some diseases may have worn off.

Some vaccines cannot be given during pregnancy. If you need vaccines, get them at least 3 months before trying to conceive. During this time, keep using birth control.

Make Sure Your Vaccinations Are Up-To-Date:

Safe Three Months Before Pregnancy: Measles/mumps/rubella vaccine

Safe One Month Prior to Pregnancy: Varicella vaccine

Safe During Pregnancy:
Tetanus-diphtheria booster
Hepatitis A vaccine
Hepatitis B vaccine
Flu shots
Pneumococcal vaccine

Do you have a family history of any of the following diseases?

Are there any genetic conditions in your immediate or extended family which you believe might be hereditary? Consider genetic counseling. Genetic counselors can answer any questions you and your spouse have and give you valuable family planning information.

1. Tay Sachs Disease
2. Beta or Alpha Thalessemia
3. Cystic Fibrosis
4. Sickle Cell Disease
5. Mental retardation
6. Epilepsy