Topic Overview

Regular prenatal exams are a top priority during any pregnancy. They are important both for monitoring your own and your fetus’s health and for giving you and your health professional time to build a working relationship.

If your pregnancy is going well, you will have a regular schedule of prenatal checkups. These will become more frequent as you near your due date. A general example of such a schedule is as follows:

• After the first prenatal visit, every 4 weeks till week 28 of pregnancy
• Every 2 to 3 weeks through week 36 of pregnancy
• Every week during the final month of pregnancy

You may have more frequent prenatal exams if you:

• Began your pregnancy with a preexisting medical problem.
• Develop complications during your pregnancy.
• Are a teen.