Questions to ask OB at the first prenatal appointment

sanpelligrino

HI Ladies, i know we have a thread for September appointments, but i thought we could make a separate thread that only had questions to ask your OB at your prenatal appointment. I constantly find myself forgetting questions i originally had, so this might help folks be better informed and make a list of sorts to ask the OB. 

sanpelligrino

my questions so far:
1. what testing are they making me do - for e.g. iron levels, regular blood work etc.
2. How much water is recommended to drink?
3. If i can safely travel during pregnancy, since i might have a few work trips come up.
4. If NIPT is covered and if not at least find out the company that does the NIPT so i can call them directly to ask about how much it is OOP?
5. Zika and the CDC guidelines, I badly want to take a vacation in the second tri before the baby comes, and I want to obviously be safe. I know a few countries originally on the CDC list have now been removed, so i want to see what the OB recommends.
6. when my next appointment is and i assume it is for the NT scan. 
7. General info on rhogam.

drkoyya

@sanpelligrino Thanks for putting together this post, my questions so far are very different. 

Here are the ones I have so far 

• Given the circumstances, what’s the main thing I should focus on for a healthy pregnancy? (I’m a plus size mom)
• How many calories should I be eating a day? 
• What should I take if I have a headache? 
• What can I take to manage the constipation? 
• Tips for decreasing anxiety? 
• Is there a prenatal class I can take? 
• How long is Pilates safe to do? 
• Should I switch to all natural cleaners? 

Kathryn0903

@drkoyya my OB gives me a sheet of pregnancy safe medications to take. I remember last time, tylenol was safe for pregnancy.

sanpelligrino

Another question to add: thyroid management (for those who have it) and just going over the dates for b/w, doses etc.

@drkoyya - Good questions.
Tylenol is safe to take during pregnancy. I personally would switch to all natural cleaners, but it's a personal opinion to not use anything toxic. 

mercury94

@drkoyya My OB also gave me a pamphlet that listed all the over the counter medicine I could take. She also prescribed Colace to help with the constipation last time. 

mysteryship

You might want to ask about birth interventions and how far they'll let you go overdue, if that's important to you.

Those questions can wait for later appointments obviously, but they're good if you're evaluating whether you are happy with the OB.

mercury94

My questions for my next appointment are pretty limited. I’m going to ask if she has recommendations for the boob pain. I don’t remember it being this bad last time (so I hope that means I might have better luck breastfeeding).

Hip and back pain as well. It’s already bad, so I’m kind of scared of how much worse it might get. 

Also, I want to know which NIPT test she uses, so I can call the lab and get a firm price quote/discuss payment plan options. 

sanpelligrino

@mysteryship thats a great question that i would've never thought of. 

@mercury94 I have a stiff back after sitting for a couple of hours and sometimes it turns into a back ache. I've been going to a chiro and it's been helpful. Something you could perhaps consider?

mflowers929

Questions for me are about how long to work (I went off at almost 32 weeks last time because my work is very heavy sometimes and I was getting bad cramping) and about if they'll do any preemptive testing for cholestasis or wait to see

sunnyside89

I would ask how many c-sections/epidurals and natural deliveries they perform if this is important to you. 

Kathryn0903

I would ask about flu shots and Tdap vaccinations - when they reccomend them and if they do them in thd office or not?

aresee

I plan to ask about travel and motion sickness (I have a work trip in October) and what we'll be doing differently this time because my son was born 3.5 weeks early. Everything was fine, but he was technically a premie, and second kids are often born earlier than first kids, so they want me to see a high risk doctor this time.

mandarenee898

This is super helpful.  I’m also asking about suggested weight gain, the general schedule of when she’ll want to see me, prenatal tests advised, her plan for possibly induction/c-section, seeing if I should see a specialist sometime (though she works with them and is a high risk doctor).  I asked most of these questions last time, but due to having two I’m not sure how the answers will change.

jenabary

I wanted to make sure I covered typical appointment schedule, whether I could choose my hospital (and if so, which ones/ where the OBs in the practice deliver), recommended screenings, what signs/symptoms should prompt a phone call, whether I would see someone different each appointment, travel limitations, and specific questions about family history that might affect my pregnancy.

I was also able to look up a lot of answers on what to expect and positions on induction, intervention, etc. online, before my first appointment which was helpful. 

babybison

These are all great questions to ask! Our office gives a prenatal packet filled with almost all those answers, so yours might do the same. It was helpful to easily check the PDF instead of having to recall what she said. Pregnancy brain makes everything hard to remember.

sanpelligrino

@babybison thats great! I hope my Ob gives me one of those, i forget everything these days.