Basically antenatal is something preconceptional. So something before the lady gets pregnant is preconceptional. Intranatal is something during the duration of pregnancy, that is during the duration of pregnancy, say a tenure of 9 months and 7 days and postnatal is something after delivery or after delivery or post birth.

"The best time to start the antenatal clinic is always I tell my patients to go for something called as preconceptional counseling. So it is always good because it is a good time to counsel the patient regarding pregnancy and do a couple of blood tests for her and also put her on folic acid which is a very good important supplement which every patient should be taking 2 months prior to her antenatal visit and that is how it is usually advised"

"To begin with the antenatal tests, right from the date of conception, we usually advise ANC profile or antenatal profile to the patients which usually includes some basic tests such as hemogram, urine routine, and microscopy, blood group and Rh typing, along with that, her serology for HIV, HbsAg, HIV, VDRL, and even her HB electrophoresis, her basic hormones, that is her thyroid function test, and along with that her vitamin tests , something like Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D3. So this is the basic antenatal profile which we do and an ultrasonography which will confirm the pregnancy of the patient. Along with that depending upon the trimester or the period of gestation, we also go for something called as dating scan and nuchal translucency scan which are combined with the blood tests, which are called as the dual marker tests, which definitely screens the trisomies in the baby and beyond that in the one month, the anomaly scan. If the anomaly scan does show any kind of defect in the fetal heart, then definitely an echocardiography is suggested. If the anomaly scan does show any kind of defect in the fetal heart, then definitely an echocardiography is suggested. Beyond that in the 28th week of gestation, we usually go for an obstetric Doppler to basically see the baby along with the growth and the liqor and last but not the least, we go for a 9th month Doppler which tells us the final position of the baby, the liqor status and the blood flow status of the baby. These tests are done to screen the patient and even ofcourse any kind of genetic disorders in the baby. So these are the broad spectrum tests that we advice"

Because of the change in lifestyle of the women, there is always in late marriage and ofcourse late pregnancy. But definitely any age above 35 is not recommended because there are lot of medical disorders which can come up. There are congenital abnormalities in the baby and ofcourse with the increased trend of infertility and IVF babies, one definitely recommends no pregnancy beyond 35 years. Anything between 30 to 35 is a good time for the recent age group of the women.

"When the patient comes to us with pregnancy test positive, usually I would like to see her in the first trimester for every monthly and then beyond from 13 weeks to 28 weeks, monthly checkups are advised. Beyond 28 weeks to 36 it is always fortnightly, that is every 15 days, again depending on if she is a high risk patient or not and depending on that the visits also vary according to that and beyond 36 weeks, every weekly checkups are suggested to them"

In this video, Dr. Smita Ninad Khose, Consultant Gynaecologist and Obstetrician, at Cloudnine Hospital, Kalyani Nagar, Pune, highlights ten crucial warning signs every expecting parent should know about. From symptoms like severe abdominal pain and persistent headaches to identifying conditions such as preeclampsia and cholestasis, she explains when to seek immediate medical attention. Watch this essential guide to safeguard your pregnancy and ensure both maternal and baby health.