Highest-Priority Actions for Expecting a baby
If you only do five things in this stage, do these.
Register your pregnancy and get your MCP card
At your Anganwadi, government hospital or your doctor.
Apply for maternity benefits
PMMVY, and in Odisha, MAMATA-PMMVY.
Learn the danger signs
Bleeding, severe headache, blurred vision, fewer baby movements, leaking fluid, fever.
Book your NT scan
An ultrasound, usually with a blood test, to check early growth.
Start calcium from week 14
1 g a day, taken 2 hours apart from iron.
Every Step by Timeline Order
Take folic acid every day
Continue to week 12, then switch to iron-folic acid.
Register your pregnancy and get your MCP card
At your Anganwadi, government hospital or your doctor.
Dating scan
Confirms the pregnancy and your due date.
Do your first blood tests
Hb, blood group, sugar, thyroid, HIV, hepatitis B, syphilis and urine.
Apply for maternity benefits
PMMVY, and in Odisha, MAMATA-PMMVY.
Learn the danger signs
Bleeding, severe headache, blurred vision, fewer baby movements, leaking fluid, fever.
Book your NT scan
An ultrasound, usually with a blood test, to check early growth.
Ask your doctor if you need low-dose aspirin
For women at high risk of high blood pressure in pregnancy.
Plan your maternity leave
26 weeks if you have fewer than 2 children.
Tetanus-diphtheria (Td) injections
Two doses, 4 weeks apart. One booster if vaccinated recently.
Stay active, 30 minutes most days
Walking or prenatal yoga, if your doctor agrees.
Take iron-folic acid daily
One tablet a day, for 180 days.
Start calcium from week 14
1 g a day, taken 2 hours apart from iron.
Dental check-up
Treatment is safe, and best in the middle months.
Plan any flights before week 32
After 32 weeks most airlines want a doctor's fit-to-fly letter, and stop at 36 weeks.
Anomaly scan
A detailed scan of the baby's organs.
Check how you are feeling
A short mood check, for both parents.
Sugar test (75 g glucose)
Drink glucose, then a blood test after 2 hours.
Choose your hospital and plan the birth
24×7 operation theatre, blood bank and a newborn unit.
Anti-D injection, if you are Rh negative
Only if your blood group is negative.
Tdap and flu vaccines
Where available. Ask your doctor.
Go to sleep on your side from week 28
Either side is fine. If you wake up on your back, just turn over.
Ask the hospital about your birth choices
A birth companion, pain relief, their C-section rate and the newborn unit.
Had a C-section before? Decide on VBAC by week 36
A vaginal birth after one caesarean works for about 3 in 4 women.
For the father: book your leave and the night shifts
Apply for paternity leave now and agree who does which nights.
Pack the hospital bag
MCP card, ID, insurance card, clothes, pads and baby clothes.
Know when to leave for the hospital
First baby: contractions every 5 minutes, lasting about a minute, for an hour. Sooner if your waters break.
Coastal Odisha: plan for a cyclone warning
If a warning comes in your last month, ask the ASHA to shift you to hospital early.
Past 40 weeks? Plan induction at 41
WHO advises inducing labour once you reach 41 weeks.
What Elders Suggest vs What Medicine Says
We honor caring tradition while keeping mothers and children medically safe.
Garbh Sanskar
Traditional / NeutralFine for relaxation. No effect on IQ. Harmful only if it replaces antenatal check-ups.
Private cord-blood banking
Traditional / NeutralNot recommended as routine 'insurance'. Public donation is supported.