6 weeks pregnant: Doctors appointments and health information

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If you haven’t already seen your doctor, you should book in for your first antenatal visit. This is important to:

  • Determine an accurate estimated date of delivery (due date of your baby);
  • Check for any infections that may harm your baby;
  • Ensure you are immunised against vaccine-preventable infections which may harm your baby – ideally performed prior to pregnancy;
  • Check that any medications you are taking are not harmful to the baby – ideally performed prior to pregnancy;
  • Ensure any medical conditions you have (e.g. diabetes) are optimally managed. If you have medical conditions it’s also important that you discuss with your doctor the possible effects of pregnancy on those conditions, as well as the possible effects of medical conditions on your pregnancy;
  • Find out about screening tests which can be performed on your baby in the first trimester (e.g. for birth defects);
  • 110900780Be advised on folate supplementation if you are not already taking it;
  • Discuss lifestyle and diet including the importance of healthy eating and exercise and avoiding dangerous substances like alcohol and tobacco;
  • Ask any health related questions that you feel are important; and
  • Raise any concerns that you are feeling about your pregnancy.

See more information about pregnancy and exercise, including exercises to do and avoid during pregnancy.

See more information about how much to eat during pregnancy and the effects of over-eating during pregnancy or under-eating during pregnancy.

Avoiding dangerous substances in pregnancy week 6

Embryogenesis is a period of rapid development and the time during which all your baby’s organs develop. It is an important period to avoid teratogens (things that can affect the growing baby), including some medicines and viruses which cross the placenta, as these can interfere with organ development and increase the risk of birth defects. The development of your baby’s organs is interdependent. This means that failure of one organ or part of an organ to develop (e.g. the lens of the eye) impacts on the development of other parts of the organ and the surrounding structures (e.g. failure of the lens to develop will interrupt the development of other parts of the eye like the optic disc).

See more information about substances and foods to avoid during pregnancy including caffeine and alcohol.

References

For more information about week 6 of pregnancy

159668557 Happy couple For more information about the sixth week of pregnancy see 6 weeks pregnant
134247814 Happy woman For more details about the changes for mum in week 6 of pregnancy see 6 weeks pregnant: Changes for mum
121353402 Happy couple For more details about the changes for you baby this week see 6 weeks pregnant: Changes for baby
158902534 Happy couple For a summary of the key point about the sixth week of pregnancy see 6 weeks pregnant: Key points
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Date Created: January 17, 2013 Date Modified: January 27, 2013