What is the risk in not seeking prenatal care through a doctor?

Question

Is it really that bad to not go to the doctor durning pregnancy, if you are young, healthy, and active?

You can buy vitamins over the counter and they really aren't necessary anyway.

I am not pregnant. Just a general question. I had my son went to doctor's appointments...the whole nine yards. I have also known several people thought who haven't seen doctors--they have done things themselves and the baby is healthy and happy. They educate themselves beforehand.

Also--the people I know who did not go to doctor's appointments. Delievered at home! With out a doctor or a midwife. What a shock?

Answer 1

We as a society equate a healthy normal pregnancy with going to a doctor but i don't think its always that important i mean think of what happens when you go every month? You pee in a cup so they can test for sugar and infection....you can do that at home...they sell the test strips. They check for swelling...you know the best if something on you is swollen so that can be done at home.They weigh you which you can do at home. They take your blood pressure which you can do at home and you can rent a doppler to hear babies heartbeat and if something doesn't feel right you go to the doctor.Prenatal tests are not always necessary but make some people feel better.A middle road might be to see a midwife,they can come to your house.When you think about it we naturally get pregnant so its silly in many ways how women feel we need a doctor to tell us our pregnancy is fine....we should listen to what our body says.I must say that in a few cases testing can pick up a real problem and may help in the end but most pregnancies are pretty normal and without complications.

Answer 2

There are many risks in not seeking prenatal care through a doctor or a midwife.
Sometimes women develop preclampsia (high blood pressure due to pregnancy) which is very dangerous to mother and child. Women can also develop gestational diabetes.
Also if a woman has a negative blood type she may require some shots so her body doesn't abort the baby.
There are many, many complications that could arise without any overt signs that could cause serious trouble for mother and/or child.
If you are young, healthy and active you could very well have an uncomplicated pregnancy which would mean one visit to the doctor a month during the first trimester, then two visits a month until you are 36 weeks, then it's one visit a week until the baby is born.
Also if a baby is born without prenatal care then the poor child will go through some unnecessary tests to make sure everything is ok.
Even if you have no insurance there are many government programs that will pay for the medical coverage of pregnancy and birth.
Good luck!

Answer 3

Yes it is very risky. Bad, maybe not, but a lot of problems that put your health and your baby's at risk can be discovered early and keep you both healthy. They can even do surgery on a fetus in some cases if there's a desperate reason for it.

You don't have to see a doctor though, a midwive often offers far more personal care and can be a lot less expensive. Usually a midwive will work in conjunction with a doctor, so you still have the doctor if there's a situation beyond her capabilities.

Over the counter prenatal vitamins are not the same, and you still need to be checked for things like diabetes and pre-eclampsia on a regular basis.

I have known young healthy women who have had very bad outcomes, some preventable, some not. There are no guarantees all will go well, but with proper prenatal care, the odds of you both coming through this healthy are significantly better.

Lots of things can be detected early that may be treatable and thus prevent bigger problems, like premature labor, or placenta previa (which can kill you both at delivery if not detected ahead of time).

Why not a doctor? Are you hiding this from someone?

Answer 4

Yeah your young and healthy now but you never had a life growing inside of you using all your vitamins, blood messing with your hormones. You have a chance of becoming anemic which is loss of blood. That is the point of the prenatal vitamins. You also need check up's for your blood pressure. I had pre eclampsia when I was pregnant. That is where you have high blood pressure when you are pregnant. I was always helthy i never had any mediacal problems untyil I was pregnant!!!! Also you need check up's to make sure the baby is growing at the proper weight and size. So you seem to not have your baby's best intrest at heart because if you did you wouldn't think twicw about going to the doctor. If you don't have insurence there is always help out like hoosier, they pretty much pay for everything if you fall under the right budget. Their is someone else now that you have to start thinking about.

Answer 5

True about the vitamins...my doctor recommended that I stay on the vitamins I had purchased OTC at Walgreens since I was feeling so well on them, HOWEVER, there are tons of reasons why not getting prenatal care is bad for you and the baby. There are things that can happen whether you are healthy or not.
-If you are ectopic and don't know it, a doctor would be able to find that before it ruptured and possibly ruined your chances of future fertility and, in extreme cases, can kill the mother.
-Your doctor can rule out multiples which definitely DO need extra attention and care from both you and your doctor.
-Your doctor will take a full history of your family and of your health to try to determine if you are more at risk for certain circumstances in pregnany that need to be monitored such as gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia.
-your doctor will test your blood for malnutritons such as anemia, test for RH content to help determine if your body will try to fight off your baby, and will also test for STD's that could have been hidden up to this point and that could potentially kill your baby. They are also able to test your progesterone levels to make sure your body is carrying well and will test your HCG levels to make sure they are not too high which could signify molar pregnancy or multiples, or that they are not too low which could siginify ectopic or impending miscarriage.
I could go on and on....No, I suppose you really don't HAVE TO HAVE prenatal care....hundreds of years ago there was none, but if you want the chances of your abby and of you being the safest and most healthy, I don't understand why you'd fight that. If something went wrong, I think you'd feel really guilty and regretful.

Answer 6

definately. Unless you are seeing a mid wife. Doctors are trained to check for problems that you would never suspect in a pregnancy.

If you want a personal experience. I was a perfectly healthy, in shape 21 year old when I first got pregnant. When i say healthy I mean healthy, i was in the military, worked out, and never get sick.

I delievered at 27weeks with that pregnancy when I went into labor at 23weeks without warning. Had I not been seeing a doctor, I would have lost my daughter. A beautiful and now healthy 10month old. Its not worth the risk of your child to go without seeing a doctor

Answer 7

Pre-natal vitamins are necessary. They contain folic acid, which is vital in early pregnancy to prevent birth defects.

Even if you are young and healthy it is vital to see a doctor. You need to have your blood pressure monitored, as well as your glucose levels checked for gestational diabetes. If these problems are not treated you and your baby could die. There are also tests that an OB will run to test the health of the baby you are carrying. During pregnancy your body will change in ways you might expect, and your good health aside, you might be at risk for things.

Seeing the doctor also will enable you to discuss what kind of birthing options you want to have, and will familiarize you with the place you will have your baby.

And really, it's not just about you. You are creating and fostering life. Go for the sake of the baby!

Answer 8

A lot of women in africa and poor countries dont get prenatal care and have their baby themselves however not all of them are healthy. Even if you are young, healthy and active your baby has genes from your husband that can carry diseases, remember hen you were pregnant all the tests they performed to see if the baby was ok and for down syndrome? If you dont get prenatal care you wouldnt find out. And prinetal vitamins are very important, many women get anemia during pregnancy and there is iron in your pills to help. The first cause of dead during birth is lack of prenetal care

Answer 9

You dont have to see a doctor but you do want to, to make sure you have a healthy baby with no complications all people are different some go through pregnancies with no problems but some have problems with themselves or the baby and it is better to be checked out. Better safe than sorry.

Answer 10

The risks are very high!!! Not seeing a doctor is not wise!! Anything can happen. When you go to see the doctor they let you know if there is anything wrong with the baby, when the baby was conceived and if your going to be able to carry the baby to full term. You also need to be checked out!!!! Now!!! The pregnancy has to safe. There are things in your body that need to be checked!