How soon should someone see a doctor after discovering they are pregnant?

Don’t drink, don’t drug, don’t smoke and start eating well if you are not already doing that.

You should be OK for 30 days. Just be mindful.

YAY IP!

Some people don’t find out that they’re pregnant until they’re a good ways in. You know what not to do, it should be ok to wait a little while before going to the doctor. Just go ASAP so that you cam make sure that you’re doing everything that needs to be done and so on!

Just make sure you are taking prenatal vitamins now.

One month shoud be fine assuming you are only a few weeks pregnant. Did you take the tests right after a missed period? I would call your doctor and see how they normally schedule pregnant women. Then you will have an idea what to expect. Some doctors do more tests than necessary, multiple ultrasounds, etc. You can work with your doctor to decide what is really necessary. Most important they will want to do a blood test and a urine test, to make sure your sugars are ok, your iron and folic acid, and your pregnancy hormone is doubling correctly.

Did Planned Parenthood give you any advice for a healthy pregnancy? They should have.
There are lot’s of books on the subject as well. Congratulations and good luck!

Buy The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy. It is funny and tells you the real deal, and is not as text book oriented as What To Expect When You Are Expecting. Although, I recommend that book also.

You are probably ok to wait until you get your insurance, but you will need to start taking pre-natal vitamins immediately. Here is a good article on Webmd that can tell you what kind of vitamins to take.

Don’t drink any alcohol, don’t drink any coffee or soda (because of the caffeine) and try not to take any other medications (not even aspirin or other pain relievers) You might want to contact Planned Parenthood again and ask them if you are allowed to take any medications that you may need such as prescriptions or allergy meds.

Here is Baby Center, which has a lot of great information.

Here is some more good information.

Read up on what to do and what not to do.

Here in Canada they don’t do much for the first 3 months pregnant beyond taking your blood pressure and taking a urine test. Ultrasound doesn’t happen until you are 4 months along.

As others have said: make sure you start taking prenatal vitamins, eat a healthy diet, don’t drink and you should be perfectly fine for 30 days.

Congratulations!

First of all CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!!! I was 2 months pregnant before I went to the docotrs to have it confirmed. He put me on folic acid straight away and said that I should really have gone sooner! But my daughter was born healthy. As long as you don’t take any unneccessary risks- drinking, smoking, climbing trees etc.. you should be ok (I am not a doctor though)
Try ringing your doctor for advice over the phone s/he will guide you as to the best time

Folic acid is a biggie.

Folic acid is more essential for before the fact, but eating a proper diet is now very important. But just remember, you’re not ‘eating for two’, you’re eating for the wellness of two.

I have a disease that made the taking of an ultra sound necessary immediately, it was done with an internal device and it was an amazing experience to see my son at such an amazingly small and early stage! But,,... I’m rare. (and live in a country with healthcare, thankfully)

Just use common sense. Sometimes you’ll get cravings and it’s usually because your body requires certain things. I craved bottled fizzy water and cinnamon. (magnesium and other trace salts… I’m guessing) Don’t go overboard with anything. Cut out the bad stuff. I cut down on coffee in a big way and drank no alcohol… Just the smell of it made me feel ill anyway, so that was not a problem.

Just remember, women have been doing this successfully for a millennia. Take good care of yourself. Congrats. Best of luck.

Another tip, stay hydrated. You will likely be more thirsty while pregnant, especially as your blood volume begins to increase.

And you will need to tinkle about 10 times as much as you used to. So yes to what @JLeslie said about keeping hydrated (but don’t drink caffeinated beverages) stick to water and low-fat milk.

If you are on any medications now, get advice about them immediately. I was so panicked about my thyroid meds, but it was actually IMPERATIVE I take them for the wellness of me and my baby, so that above advice about stop taking your meds is not accurate. CHECK first.

Most doctor’s won’t see their patients until about 10–12 weeks anyway (aside from confirming the pregnancy). So you won’t be missing much just based on OB care at that point. If you have questions or concerns, you can ask your regular doctor and a pharmacist (if you have questions about medications). Congratulations, I hope you have a happy and healthy pregnancy!

If you have a family practitioner that you go to, you can check in with him/her and get prenatal advice before going to the OB/GYN.

just wondering… does every pregnant woman in the US go to an obstetrician? It seems so over the top, here in New Zealand most women usually go to their GP initially and then choose a midwife, a service which is completely free by the way, I know that some women choose to go to an obstetrician if there are complications or possible complications but the majority do absolutely fine without a specialist… from this distance, birth in the US sounds highly and unnecessarily medicalised

In Canada you usually only get referred to an ob/gyn for high risk pregnancies. Our province finally started funding midwives just this past year.

All of my kids were delivered by GPs.

@Adagio We have very few midwives in America. Also, almost all GYN’s are OB’s, so any woman who gets a yearly PAP smear basically has an OB already. Do your midwives deliver at the hospital?

Most OB?GYNs in the States don’t want to see you until about 8 weeks pregnant. Just don’t drink or take drugs and get good rest and nutrition. You can certainly start reading: Wht to Expect When You’re Expecting is a good source of info.

@JLeslie Our midwives have the option of delivering in the hospital.

@JLeslie any woman who gets a yearly PAP smear basically has an OB already wow, cervical smears must be hugely expensive, doesn’t that put people off? Yes midwives deliver at the hospital, although there are birth centres and domiciliary midwives deliver at home, I do not know how funding works in that situation.

@tranquilsea They do here in the states also. I think they are Nurse Practitioners with a midwife specialty, something like that. And, I believe there are birthing centers, and some people are choosing to deliver at home.

@Adagio There are more and more Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants now in the US, which does help to reduce costs.

@Adagio Just to add, the insurance industry has a stronghold in America, and it is possible a GYN is paid the same as a Nurse Practitioner for doing a yearly exam. I am not sre how it works, but the insurers tend to look at the specific procedure from what I can tell.

A OB/GYN is paid at a specialist rate, which involves a higher copayment amount for the services. Generally, for a delivery, there is a standard fee that covers all prenatal visits and standard delivery of the baby. The hospital charge is separate, and if there are any complications, that’s separate, too.

A family practitioner may provide prenatal care in the US, but are generally not set up to deliver babies, and would require either a midwife or an OB to do the actual delivery. Also, a family practitioner’s office is not set up with ultrasound equipment, and pregnant women would have to be referred to free-standing clinics for these services.

The US does not have the Samaritan laws that Canada and the EU (and probably NZ and AU) have which prevent people from suing their doctors for ridiculous amounts of money. As a result, liability insurance prevents most family practitioners from delivering babies as well.

@BarnacleBill Thanks for that info. I don’t understand why someone gets paid more for doing the same service just because they have more education? I think that only happens in medicine and education. Most industries are paid for the work they do.

Here in Norway it was a pretty nice process. We have neighbourhood ‘health clinics’ where there are midwives and baby nurses and paediatricians that a pregnant woman and women with infants and small children visit regularly. We get a little book when the baby is born and it’s growth and inoculations are written down. It’s also a ‘drop in’ facility, but you are assigned this clinic by your GP when you are pregnant, but I can’t imagine they would turn anyone way looking for just basic advice. Money does not change hands during this process. No bill when you leave the hospital. No charge for the baby’s check ups or shots. Even children’s dentist visits are free. Grown ups pay and arm and a leg for dentistry though.

When I had my little one, the maternity ward was undergoing renovation… so we were in kind of an icky part of the hospital. Had my birth been straight forward, I could have gotten to say in one of the maternity apartments, which looks like a small hotel room where your husband can stay over, but my son was a ‘star gazer’ and had jaundice, so I had to be where the medical staff was, which was a large shared room with 4 other women and ended up there for a week.

In The Netherlands, the doctors don’t want to see a pregnant woman. Unless there are special circumstances, or she’s ill, she delivers at home with a midwife. It’s not considered a ‘medical condition’. My sister-in.law had all three of her babies at home and the third one came so fast, the midwife didn’t make it in time and my brother-in.law had to catch the baby. I make fun of this when I sit on their couch, telling them I feel funny sitting where she’s given birth. hahaha.

@JLeslie Here in Norway, people are paid less for the same job if they don’t have a related or approved degree. I don’t think it’s right either. I worked in New Zealand where you were paid for the job, not your degree. There are no fees for University other than living expenses and your books, so if you want to get a job that requires a degree, there isn’t that much in your way. Government study loans are easy to get.

I live in the US. I had a General Practitioner for prenatal care and delivery of 3 of my children. I had an OB/GYN for a Caesarean.
@ItalianPrincess1217 How far along do you think you are? When do you think your baby might be due?

@wilma I have never heard of a GP delivering a baby in America. Well, not in recent history. I would never think it. Maybe it happens more than I would imagine. Do they have some sort of special designation or certification? What state do you live in?

@JLeslie MI. I think at least half of the women I know have their pregnancies taken care of by a GP. Only in the case of problems or special circumstances do they see a OB/GYN.
It is so much nicer ( for me anyway) having the Dr. and office, who knows all about you and your family handling the birth of your baby.
Why would a medical Dr. need some special certification to assist with a normal delivery?

@wilma Now I am curious to ask my MI friends what they did. I have yet to find a GP I like enough to stick with in the first place. I did have my GYN stuff taken care of by my “GP” when I was a teen, but she specialized as an adolescent doctor. I like the idea, don’t get me wrong, of a doctor who can take care of all of my basic preventative needs, but I would much rather have a GYN who checks my cholesterol than a GP who does my GYN stuff I think. I guess it really depends on the doctor more than anything. I have too many GYN problems to be cared for by a GP. Generally, I think GP’s are great if you are healthy, and that is where it ends for me. I would love to find a GP who I really felt coordinated my health care, and could take care of more than healthy visits and an antibiotic for a sinus infection once every three years. I onced asked a question on fluther regarding the topic, and it seems some people really do have very good internists.

Becoming a nurse midwife requires a master’s degree after a certain number of years as an RN, its on par with the nurse practitioner. There are 4 basic categories for continuing education for nurses. Nurse Practitioner (NP), Certified Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM). :)

My GP told me there wasn’t any point in coming in for a visit (even though they’ve done my gyno exams for years). They advised me to start seeing a “real” gyno. I was really disappointed.