Routine pregnancy care involves blood tests, most of which are taken during early pregnancy, with others taken at later stages (usually at around 26 to 30 weeks). Your first pregnancy blood tests may be taken by your local doctor when you first find out you are pregnant, with copies of the results taken to your
first pregnancy visit. Alternatively, you may wait to have your blood tests done by your maternity caregiver(s) at your first pregnancy visit. The timing of the first blood tests is normally before 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy. However, some women leave their first pregnancy visit until later (perhaps 16 to 20 weeks), particularly if this is not their first baby.
Routine pregnancy blood tests can include:
Blood group and antibodies
Iron, platelets and Thalassaemia
Rubella, syphilis - VDRL
Hep B, Hep C and HIV/AIDS
Glucose tolerance test - GTT
Blood group and antibodies
A group and antibodies blood test is essentially three tests combined into one, being:
Blood group
Rhesus factor
Antibodies
Blood group
It is important for your caregiver to have a formal, written report stating what your blood group is in case you require a blood transfusion at any stage during the pregnancy or after the birth, due to excessive bleeding or haemorrhage. Blood groups are either A, B, AB or O (as on the letter O not zero).
A blood group test also identifies your blood's Rhesus factor, being either positive or negative (eg. A positive) and also screens for blood antibodies or agglutinins. Therefore, even if you already know your blood group and Rhesus factor from previous blood tests (or by donating blood at the blood bank), it is expected that this test is repeated and confirmed with each pregnancy, particularly to screen for antibodies. Rhesus factor and antibodies are fully explained in the next section.
Rhesus factor