Every woman’s experience of pregnancy is personal, and will depend on her situation and needs. Testing throughout gestation may therefore vary from one woman to another. However, it’s fair to say that most of the basic tests offered to a pregnant woman are directly in line with medical best practice guidelines for prenatal care, and are fairly standard across the country.

Blood tests

Blood tests during pregnancy can be performed for a variety of reasons. For example, blood tests at the beginning of pregnancy can determine whether you are pregnant or whether there are any possible problems, such as iron levels in your blood, or whether you are immune to specific diseases that could harm your baby’s development. This way, we can intervene quickly to promote a healthy pregnancy.

First pregnancy monitoring

During the first trimester (often during the first pregnancy follow-up visit), your healthcare professional⸱le will perform a Pap test. as well as gynecological swabs to screen for STIs (sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections), always with a view to prevention.

Genetic screening blood tests are also offered to pregnant women to determine the risk of certain pathologies in the fetus, which can be identified as early as intro-uterine life (e.g.: several trisomies, DiGeorge syndrome, Prader William and Cri-du-chat).

Monitoring during the 2nd and 3rd trimester

You will also have an ultrasound around 20 weeks of gestation to check your baby’s morphology. Then there’s a pregnancy diabetes test around 28 weeks (or earlier if risk factors are present). A strep-B test at 36 weeks will take place to identify women carrying the disease. This is to plan for treatment during labour to avoid infecting the baby during childbirth.

Genetic screening blood tests are also offered to pregnant women in order to determine the risk of certain pathologies in the fetus that can be identified as early as intro-uterine life (e.g. several trisomies, DiGeorge syndrome, Prader William and Cri-du-chat).

Genetic screening tests

Genetic screening tests are optional but may be suggested to determine the risk of congenital anomalies in the fetus. These include blood tests to detect aneuploids as early as the first trimester of pregnancy,  fetal DNA testing to detect possible fetal anomalies even more accurately,  nuchal translucency, amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling.

Other tests can be added throughout your pregnancy based on each woman’s situation, such as:

• Repeated ultrasounds for different reasons: to determine the pregnancy age, evaluate the baby’s growth, monitor twin development, or to identify conditions to monitor, such as a poorly placed placenta;
• Fetal health surveillance through monitoring, for example;

To learn more, read the following articles:

•    Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Pregnancy
•    Vaccinations for Pregnant Women and Babies (in french)
•    Is a whooping cough vaccine mandatory? (in french)

Or watch these videos (in french):

•    Pregnancy Monitoring
•    I have strep-B, what should I expect?
•    Vaccines with Christiane Dubreuil

Marie Fortier
The Baby Expert

Updated article : September, 2024.

Learn more about the tests available during pregnancy, offered at Prenato.