Prenatal testing options
Illuminated Midwifery is inherently against requiring families to participate in testing and or activities that they feel opposed to for their care.
We hope to have families that come into care that have the same vision for care that we do. We aim to achieve this by being as upfront and transparent regarding testing that we believe will support you to have the best pregnancy and to achieve the best care.
We believe that families should have one ultrasound, usually around twenty-ish weeks. This lets your provider know the location of your placenta (we want to be sure that it isn’t covering the opening of your cervix) and that your baby is healthy and well and won’t require extensive care post-birth. In some cases, follow-up ultrasounds are appropriate/recommended or offered and discussed on an as-needed basis. https://www.mamanatural.com/baby-ultrasound/
We believe families should have basic blood labs. You should know your blood type and Iron and platelet levels. Having this knowledge can help you adjust your supplements or change your diet so you can better support your immune system, fight pregnancy fatigue, and prevent unneeded bleeding after birth. https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/routine-tests-during-pregnancy
We believe choices for your baby are yours.
Illuminated Midwifery offers “standard of care” testing. Standard of care testing is testing that has been deemed appropriate by our guiding organizations and local standards. You may not always need or desire standard-of-care tests. Guiding organizations are NARM, and ACNM (see links below). Local standards are set by nearby hospitals such as Tampa General. Offering standard-of-care testing doesn’t mean that you receive every test, it means that you have the option of choosing from the tests that are available. Some families opt for more testing and some families opt for less. We support those choices.
We believe in discussing the risks and benefits of each test. Our aim is to tailor testing to each client's needs, budget, and beliefs.
