Maternity Care:

You have several choices for prenatal or pregnancy care in BC that are covered by MSP. If it is important to you to deliver at a certain hospital, then you will need to choose a care provider that works at that particular hospital. For example, I work at BC Women’s Hospital so all of my prenatal patients will have their babies at BC Women’s. http://www.bcwomens.ca/ https://birthdocs.ca/doctors/group-1/ 

The three care provider options are:

• Midwifery

• Family Practice maternity provider

• Obstetrician

Usually your MSP/ care card will only cover the cost of seeing one of the above types of providers for your prenatal care so you will need to choose. If your midwife or family doctor wants you to see an Obstetrician during your pregnancy for any reason then this would also be covered by your MSP.

Frequency of visits and what to expect:

In the first and second trimester your prenatal visits are usually about 4 weeks apart.

In the third trimester your visits are usually 2 weeks apart until you reach 36 weeks. From 36 weeks on the visits are usually every week. Most maternity care providers will continue to care for you and your baby throughout your pregnancy and for 6 weeks after the baby is born at which time they will return care back to your regular doctor. If you do not have a family doctor, let your maternity provider know early in the pregnancy and they can help you to find one. 

First visit:
Your medical history will be taken and your doctor may order some initial labs, a dating ultrasound and discuss genetic screening options. 

Second visit: 
A physical exam will be performed and if you are due for a pap smear this can be done at this time. 

Additional visits:
These visits usually consist of checking: weight, blood pressure, assessing the growth of your belly, listening to the fetal heart, checking the position of the baby if you are in your third trimester and discussing any questions you have and ordering any tests that are required.