S2 E5: Doctor’s Appointments, Tests & All About Interventions: What to Expect During Pregnancy (#40)

Summary

In this episode, Taylor Rae Roman shares what to expect during pregnancy when it comes to doctor's appointments and medical interventions. She explains that the first trimester includes an initial prenatal visit between weeks 6–10, covering blood work, medical history, and physical exams, and reflects on her surprise that doctors don't typically see patients right after a positive pregnancy test. In the second trimester, appointments happen about every four weeks, with key moments like the 20-week anatomy scan and optional genetic screenings through companies like Natera. By the third trimester, visits increase to every two weeks and then weekly after week 36, including tests like the Group B strep screening and optional cervical checks. Taylor also outlines possible medical interventions during labor and delivery—such as induction methods, pain management, fetal monitoring, and post-birth procedures—while emphasizing the importance of understanding the "cascade of interventions" and advocating for informed decision-making.

KEY MOMENTS

Introduction and Personal Birth Plan - 00:00:08: Taylor Rae introduces the episode's focus on pregnancy-related medical appointments and explains her personal choice for an unmedicated birth, influenced by family history of natural deliveries.

First Trimester Appointments and Testing - 00:04:37: Detailed breakdown of initial prenatal visits occurring between weeks 6-10, including comprehensive blood work, genetic carrier screening, and various medical examinations.

Second Trimester Care Schedule - 00:11:11: Overview of routine appointments every four weeks, including the 20-week anatomy scan and gestational diabetes screening process.

Third Trimester Monitoring - 00:15:22: Explanation of increased appointment frequency and various tests performed, including Group B strep testing and cervical checks.

Medical Interventions Overview - 00:19:07: Comprehensive discussion of potential medical interventions during labor and delivery, including induction methods, pain management options, and monitoring techniques.

TRANSCRIPTION

Hello and welcome back. My name is Taylor Rae and this is On the Outside. In today's episode we talk about what to expect in terms of doctors appointments during pregnancy. I had no idea before I got pregnant so I'm so happy to share this with you.

What type of testing most commonly happens. What medical interventions you might expect around labor and delivery. Now remember this might be different state to state, country to country, but this is true to my experience and the standard schedule of care here in New York City.

So you might live somewhere that it might change a little bit, your OB might have something different going on, if you're going to a private practice, if you're in a small town, if you're in a smaller community it might be a little bit different.

But this is very true for me and I think you'll find a lot of similarities to your standard of care wherever you might be. Now this week we're talking a lot of medical info and I just want to share a little bit about why I've decided that I want an unmedicated birth.

Now it was always in my mind that I would have an unmedicated birth. My mom had an unmedicated vaginal delivery and always said yeah it hurt a little bit but honestly it was like no big deal like it was fine and I think her constantly sharing that birth story with me made me feel throughout my entire life yeah I could do this my mom did it I could do it and honestly as I've gone through this pregnancy I thought about the fact that on one side I have a grandmother that did seven unmedicated vaginal deliveries I have on the other side my grandma that did five unmedicated vaginal deliveries.

And I think about the power and strength that I feel from them, that legacy, that generational strength that courses through my veins. And I take so much pride and joy and encouragement from their stories.

It makes me feel like I can do this. And it's always been how I imagined my birth story to go. With that being said, there are so many factors that we can't control. So I've also had to very, very much think through and marinate on and think very deeply about how it might go another direction and how I might be able to keep my joy and my strength and my encouragement for the process, even if it goes away that I might not want.

And for me, thinking about having a C-section was super scary, which is funny because I just spoke to a friend and she was saying, oh, if it were me, I'd want a scheduled C-section. I'd want that control.

I'd want that information and that knowledge. Like you're just gonna spontaneously go into labor. That would be so scary to me. You might be on that end. You might be a little bit more my direction. You might be somewhere in the middle.

But that being said, there are so, so many expectations that each one of us might have around birth. Everything from how we think our doctor's appointments are going to go to how we want our birth story to play out.

Today's episode, I'm hoping to give you just a little bit more clarity on some terms and some technical things, some details and some schedules that you might not know before going into this process.

I had no idea really what to expect because I got pregnant so quickly and honestly, I was so consumed with my preconception journey that I thought, oh, I have so much time to learn more about what happens once I become pregnant.

That wasn't super true for me, but that's okay because I was happy to be pregnant. But now I'm excited to share all of this with you. Before we dive in, of course, I wanna remind you, I'm not a doctor or a medical professional.

Everything I share in this episode is based on my personal experience and research. You always wanna check in with your doctor or a qualified healthcare provider before making any decisions about your health, pregnancy, or preconception journey.

Let's get into it. Okay, friend, I'm gonna go kind of trimester to trimester, week to week of what to expect. First thing we're talking about are doctor's appointments and testing chronologically. So the first trimester is weeks one to 12.

You're gonna have have your initial prenatal visit between week six to 10. Realistically, you literally don't see your OB until weeks six to eight. So for those first six to eight weeks, I just wanna reiterate, you don't see a doctor.

That blew my mind. I had no idea. I thought, I take the pregnancy test, I call, I come in the next day. That is not the case. You wait until week six, up to even week eight, in some places, up to week 10.

That's definitely gonna depend on your doctor and gonna depend on kind of their vibe and what their usual standard is. I didn't see my doctor until week six and that was absolutely wild for me as someone that had never been pregnant before.

In that first exam, you're gonna get your full medical history, you're gonna get a physical exam with things like blood pressure, a urine test, urine sample, and your weight measure. You're also probably gonna get some blood tests.

For me, it was so many vials of blood. I was like, I didn't even know you could take this much blood out of me. And what they were looking at is your blood type and our H factor, your complete blood count or CBC, rubella immunity, hepatitis B and C, HIV and syphilis screenings, your thyroid function if indicated, so that might not be for everyone.

And also your chickenpox immunity. I learned that I did not have immunity to chickenpox when I got this blood test. So I was like, okay, I gotta get that vaccine because I'm not trying to get chickenpox at the same time as my son in the future.

So I learned that through this blood test. You also, like I said, get a urine culture to check for infection. If you haven't gotten your PAP done recently, you'll also get a PAP smear. And I said a couple episodes before that this could also be something that you might wanna do in just a general physical before you get pregnant.

But if you didn't, like me, then you'll also get a PAP smear at this appointment if needed. And then you have STD screening specifically for gonorrhea and chlamydia because those can very much affect the baby.

And you may get genetic carrier screening. Now, I had the Natera genetic carrier screening, and this was also done, like I said, when they took a cajillion vials of blood. So for that screening, it's a blood test that checks whether you carry genetic mutations that could be passed on to your baby.

So it might check for things like cystic fibrosis, sickle cell, and a ton of others. My test specifically tested for over 400 different things. It screens for recessive and X-linked genetic conditions, which typically, not always, will affect a child if both parents are carriers.

So if both parents are carriers, there's typically a 25% chance the baby could exhibit this condition. So let me talk to you about this a little bit more plainly because genetic testing is something I was super, super curious about before I got pregnant.

It was something I was like, should I do this before I even start trying? And in some communities, they encourage you to get genetic testing. For example, some of my Jewish friends have said, oh yeah, me and my partner were both Jewish.

It's really common for both of us to get genetic testing. Like my parents did this, my siblings did this. So we're both gonna do it. For me, I didn't know anyone that had gotten genetic testing aside from those few friends.

And so I didn't really know what to expect. Like I said, it was looking at over 400 different traits, I don't even know the right word for it, 400 different genetic mutations. And thankfully my best friend double majored in genetics when we were in college.

So I said, can you explain this to me a little bit more? What is going on here? Basically, it's taking all this blood, it's looking through it for all of these different things to see if you are a carrier.

Now, I was a carrier for two genetic conditions. So it gave me a little blurb about what those are, how common they are, they're both very, very rare. And then my husband went and got his blood work done, he got the same panel, and he was a carrier for two completely different genetic conditions.

Because we were not carriers for the same conditions, we didn't have anything to worry about. Also, because we did not carry, there's like a few conditions that only one parent needs to be the carrier, we did not carry any of those.

So in our case, we would need both of us to be carriers for just a 25% chance of the baby to exhibit that condition. So even if you and your partner are both carriers, likely it's only a 25% chance that the baby will exhibit that condition.

So I was really interested in that genetic testing, and I got those results pretty quickly after. And it was really interesting, honestly, just to read through them. You'll also lastly get a dating ultrasound at that first appointment to confirm your due date.

Now, still in the first trimester, around weeks 10 to 13, you'll have some additional screenings that might happen. So I had my NT ultrasound. This measures the fluid at the back of the baby's neck and screens for chromosomal abnormalities.

At this point, my blood work had already showed that there was not really anything flagged for chromosomal abnormalities, but then there's... screening is another opportunity where they measure the fluid at the back of the neck, which may give another indication of that.

You'll also have the option for that noninvasive prenatal testing, which I just mentioned, and that's screening for things like Down syndrome, trisomy 18 and 13, and also the fetal sex if desired. So this is where you might hear people say at 13 weeks, you can learn the gender of the baby, it's done in that same blood work.

Now we're already in the second trimester. This is weeks 13 to 27. You have routine prenatal visits about every four weeks. At these routine visits, again, blood pressure, weight, urine test, I haven't gotten a urine test actually at many of my appointments, but some OBs will want it, as well as your fundal height measurement.

This starts out week. 20. They're literally just going to take a little tape measure and measure your stomach. They're measuring for your fundal height, which is the size of your uterus, as well as the fetal heartbeat check with the Doppler.

So at every single appointment, I get to hear my little boy's heart rate with the Doppler, which is always very cool. In weeks 15 to 22, you may also get additional blood work for some of those same exact things that I discussed earlier for Down syndrome and other neural tube defects.

This may only be if necessary, it may or may not be done. I did not get that additional blood work done because I had no risk factors. Then around weeks 18 to 22, but usually at 20 weeks, you'll hear about the anatomy scan, the 20 week anatomy scan.

I had heard so much about it, and this is a detailed ultrasound checking the baby's organs, spine, limbs, checking on the placenta, the amniotic fluid. I had both an external and internal ultrasound so that they could look at my cervix.

This scan did take at least an hour, and I did have some light cramping after just because they were pressing on my stomach for so long for that ultrasound. And it's amazing because you really get to see so many detailed images of the baby.

I love that, but I was exhausted. I really was exhausted after that ultrasound. Around weeks 24 to 28, you're going to get gestational diabetes screening, and this is where you're going to drink that glucose solution and then have your blood sugar taken an hour later.

I drank the lemon lime flavor. It's clear, so it doesn't have any and had no issues and learned not even a full 24 hours later that I passed the test. I did not have gestational diabetes and honestly that glucose challenge test is so, so important.

I think there's a lot of kind of like fear mongering around it on social media and on the internet. Friend, trust your doctor that glucose test has been taken for a cajillion years by a cajillion people.

And that's a very crucial test. If abnormal, then you may have to take the glucose tolerance test, which is a three hour test with multiple blood draws. I did not have to take that so I don't have any personal experience with it, but I read about it because it was on the same pamphlet as my hour long test.

Something else that might occur at 28 weeks is the Rogam shot. If you're RH negative. Now I had heard about this in a book that I read very early on and it's definitely something worth looking into more if you are RH negative.

Otherwise. it doesn't affect you at all. So your doctor should give you a very clear explanation and this is done right in that first appointment or first few appointments when you're getting that big blood work kind of situation done, you'll find out this information very early on if you are RH negative.

If you are not, you don't need to worry about it. If you are, your doctor's gonna really deep dive into it with you. But basically RH negative mothers can develop antibodies against their RH positive blood cells of their babies.

So you may be getting a shot around week 28 if you're RH negative. Now in the third trimester, this is weeks 28 to 40. I can't believe this is where I am right now. You have routine prenatal visits every two weeks until 36 weeks and then weekly.

So again, that's every two weeks until 36 weeks and then weekly from week 36 until you have your baby. Again, blood pressure, weight, urine test if needed, fundal height, fetal position check to check if your baby is breach or head down, fetal heartbeat monitoring as well as discussing your kick count.

My baby is moving all the time. Literally I'm feeling him kick all day. So I don't really have to do many kick counts but there was one time I was very busy with friends for a while and I thought, huh, I haven't really felt him kick in a while.

You just go in a dark room, you can have orange juice, any fruity kind of drink, any kind of snack to kind of stimulate them. You could lay on your side to kind of stimulate them and change the blood flow.

And then you just sit in the dark and within an hour, you should feel at least 10 kicks. Honestly, within the first 10 minutes, I felt six kicks super swiftly. And I was like, oh, he's fine. But I think every pregnant person has so much.

anxiety around counting their kicks. So you will get to know how your baby feels, how often they kick. Some people's babies are not kicking that much. It's not really an indication of anything. My son apparently wants to be a gymnast, a runner, a soccer player, a boxer.

I don't really know, but he's in there moving and grooving, maybe a dancer, breakdancer. And so my kicks are pretty easy to monitor. Weeks 28 to 36, if necessary, if indicated, you may take some repeat blood tests.

Weeks 32 to 36, you may have a growth ultrasound if concerned about the fetal size, the amniotic fluid, or any placenta issues. And then weeks 36 to 37, you'll be getting the group B strep test. Again, something I had never heard about in my life.

So, you'll get a vaginal and erectile swab to check for the group B. strep or GBS bacteria. GBS disease is a name for any infection caused by GBS bacteria. This bacteria commonly lives in people's gastrointestinal and genital tracts and most of the time the bacteria isn't harmful and doesn't make people feel sick or have any symptoms whatsoever.

It's a common bacteria that's present in up to 30% of healthy adults. Pregnant women can pass the bacteria to their babies during delivery and that's what we don't want. Antibiotics are the primary treatment for GBS infection.

Pregnant women who are GBS positive may receive antibiotics during labor to prevent infection in their babies. So, you get swabs at 36 or 37 weeks. Ooh, I'm so excited because I'm looking forward to that.

I'm not, I'm being sarcastic. Next week. So that is the group B strep. Now what's optional from 37 weeks on are cervical checks. This will check your dilation and effacement in late pregnancy. And friend, that is all of the doctor's appointments that you can come to expect throughout your pregnancy.

Now for the second half of this episode, I'm going to talk about some common interventions. If you are early on in your pregnancy journey or maybe you just haven't taken a birthing class or you haven't really gotten into the nitty gritty, you might have never heard of these things or you might have heard it in passing from a friend in a TikTok video, whatever it might be.

I'm going to explain these just a little bit more. So an intervention. What even is it? Let's start there. An intervention is an action taken by a doctor or midwife in the birthing process to help with the birth of your baby.

Many of these are optional, but every birth is different and your medical provider should be consulted for any of these procedures and they will be the one performing them. My goal here is just to make sure that you're aware of them because like I said, you might not be.

So the first kind of section of interventions that we're gonna talk about is interventions that are regarding inductions and labor augmentation. First one is a membrane sweep. You might've heard this before, a provider manually separates the amniotic sac from the uterus to encourage labor.

A membrane sweep is when your provider, so your doctor, your midwife, whatever it might be, they sweep a gloved finger across the membrane that connects the amniotic sac, which is the fluid-filled sac that like when your water breaks, that's what we're talking about, to the wall of your uterus.

The separation of the amniotic membrane from your uterus might help speed up labor. Membrane sweeps help your body release chemicals called prostaglandins, and prostaglandins help soften, then and dilate your cervix to begin preparing for labor.

So you can only have a membrane sweep if your cervix has begun dilating because your provider needs space to insert that gloved hand so that they can separate the membrane. And again, they're separating the membrane that connect the amniotic sac with the wall of the uterus.

And I believe it's only a finger, like a gloved finger. Like it's not, I've heard various things. I've heard it's painful. I've heard it's not painful, not necessarily pain, but like, you know how they always say there's gonna be some pressure, right?

I feel like every doctor says that if you're getting any sort of like pelvic exam, pap smear, anything like that, it's that kind of vibe. Now, another thing to think about is a cervical ripening agent.

Again, these are all things that are happening to induce labor or to augment labor. So a cervical ripening agent, those are gonna be medications like Cytotec or Cervadil, which helps soften and dilate the cervix.

And these medications are taking differently, Cytotec and Cervadil. So they might be inserted into the vagina. They might be taken orally, all with that same goal. Now a Foley balloon catheter is a small balloon inserted into the cervix to help with dilation.

There's no actual medication there. It's manually done. So this is a great option. If you're someone that's like not really wanting many interventions, doesn't really wanna use any medication, isn't feeling the Cytotec and Cervadil, then a Foley balloon might be right for you.

Pitocin is synthetic oxytocin. And you may hear about Pitocin a lot. Pitocin is an IV medication used to induce or speed up labor contractions. Lastly, we have the artificial rupture of membranes or breaking of the water, where a provider manually breaks the amniotic.

sac to stimulate contractions. In all of these situations, the goal is to bring labor on or get you moving further along. That is the goal of those that I just discussed. Now, next up we have pain management.

Pain management, you probably have heard of the epidural, of course, which is a catheter placed in the spine to numb pain from the waist down. I didn't know that it was a catheter. I thought a catheter was only something that was used to help people urinate, like in surgery.

But a catheter is just the name of the plastic flexible kind of device that is used. You can definitely look up more. And if you're taking a birthing class or any sort of educational type of workshop, you'll learn more about exactly what to expect with the epidural.

There's also a spinal block, which is a single injection of anesthesia into the spine. This is often used for C-sections. And if you, for example, are not using an epidural and need to transition to a C-section, you may use a spinal block.

Lastly, there's nitrous oxide or laughing gas, which is an inhaled gas that provides mild pain relief. Nitrous oxide is what I'm all about for this labor. Two of the rooms in my hospital offer nitrous oxide, so I'm hoping to get a room that has it.

If we have it, great. If we don't, it's okay. I actually just met with my doula today and discussed it, but I think that would be cool to have just something to help take the edge off. So that is pain management.

Now fetal monitoring, another series of interventions. There's intermittent fetal monitoring, which uses a Doppler or external monitor periodically to check on the baby. So this is gonna be when you're in the hospital and they're monitoring you and they also wanna monitor baby.

Continuous fetal monitoring is an external or internal set of sensors used to track the baby's heart rate and contractions continuously. So then you would be hooked up to the machine continuously. So if you're hoping to be able to move around during labor, this is gonna limit some of that mobility because it's gonna be connected to a device.

Lastly, we have the scalp electrode monitoring, which is a small electrode placed on the baby's scalp for more precise heart rate tracking. So literally it's entered through the vagina and placed on the baby's scalp and that is a scalp electrode monitor.

We got two more little sections of interventions that I just wanna run you through before I share a little more. C-section or cesarean section interventions. There is a scheduled c-section, which is a planned surgical birth due to medical reasons.

or otherwise, and an emergency C-section which is just an unplanned surgery due to a variety of issues which is done the same way. Now let's talk about cesarean section or C-section interventions. C-sections may be scheduled or they may be emergency C-sections.

In either case it's a surgical birth that is due to medical reasons. And lastly we have post-birth interventions. First one being uterine massage or fungal massage and pitocin injection. This helps the uterus contract and prevent hemorrhaging so you should expect that after delivery.

Chord clamping which may be delayed or immediate which is just cutting the umbilical cord sometimes it might be delayed. usually at the request of the parents. Sometimes it may be immediate. This might be if there's an emergency or if it's the standard of care at the hospital.

But remember, you always have a choice. It's your body and nothing can be done without your consent. I am all about that delayed cord clamping. So it's something that I wish for myself. And lastly, the last set of post-birth interventions are some newborn medications.

A vitamin K shot, which helps blood clotting for the baby, very important. There's also an eye drop antibiotic ointment to prevent infection and the hepatitis B vaccine. And your OB should discuss all of those options with you before you get to that moment at the hospital.

So this should be a discussion during your regular OB appointment. Now, I just ran through a ton of interventions, some of which you may never heard. We talked about interventions that are for induction and labor augmentations, pain management, fetal monitoring, C-sections, and post-birth interventions.

Something that I think is really useful and worthwhile to consider is something called the cascade of interventions. Now, the cascade of interventions is essentially the idea that if you start with one intervention, it may lead to many, many more down the line.

That doesn't mean it's always the case. And sometimes these interventions, first of all, they exist because they have saved the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of mothers and babies. So we love interventions, we love modern medicine.

But also with that being said, you always have the right to understand what is going on and why it is going on. Many times these interventions, specifically at the beginning of labor, the induction and labor augmentation interventions that I discussed, a lot of these are done because of something like that.

called failure to progress. Your provider is not seeing that you're not dilating quick enough. You're not, this isn't moving along quick enough. The contractions aren't coming strong enough and it's really just a desire to get things rolling.

Now, I do not want you to have any mistrust of your doctor, of your hospital. Hey, I am having my baby in a hospital with an OB and I very much trust both the facility and the doctor that I have. But that being said, in the United States, we already know at this time that healthcare, doctors, hospitals, they also have the goal of making money.

Maybe not your doctor and provider specifically, but overall health insurance companies, hospitals, as companies, this is something that they have at the top of their mind. So, some of these interventions are to get you moving quicker so they could bring someone else in to use that bed.

quicker so they could deliver more babies quicker, so they can have more patients more swiftly. All of these things are your decision. If you don't want to have your water broken, also known as the artificial rupture of membranes, you can ask, is this medically necessary?

Is there another option? Do I have different choices? What happens if we don't do that? Is there any risk to me or to my baby? Same thing with Pitocin or with a Foley balloon or with cervical ripening agents?

Now, if you have a scheduled induction or your past 40 weeks, or you have a medical reason to need an induction, that's a very different situation. But if you go into the hospital and you're water broke and you're like, okay, how far am I?

And you're not very far along, they may suggest some of these interventions. It is always your choice to decide if you do or do not want any, and to have more information, which at the end of the day is what I really want to advocate to you, getting more information.

Why do I need that? What happens if I get it? What happens if I don't? Are there any risks? Are there any benefits? Is my life or the life of my baby at risk? Is this an emergency situation? What happens if we do nothing?

Can we check back in a few hours? These are some questions that you can definitely ask if you don't feel comfortable getting an intervention. Then again, you may think, you know what? I trust my provider, I trust this facility, and I'm gonna do whatever the doctor advises, and that is also completely your right.

My personal opinion is that I want the least amount of interventions possible. That is what me, my husband, and my doula have all discussed in depth, and so they can also advocate for me when I am in labor and definitely feeling it.

So whatever you decide. make sure that whoever is with you in that room also understands your preferences on those interventions. Now on next week's episode, I will be discussing just the wild ride of pregnancy, all of the crazy things that happen to your body that you might not be expecting.

I feel like I knew some of the basics, but there are also so many interesting things that are going on inside that you can't even see on the surface that I think are so cool and worth mentioning. So that's what we're gonna be getting into in the next episode.

You can follow me at @taylorraeroman. As always, a full transcription of the episode along with citations can be found on my website. All of those links are available in the show notes. See you out there.

REFERENCES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Group B Strep (GBS)." Accessed April 28, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/group-b-strep/index.html.

Cleveland Clinic. "Membrane Sweep." Accessed April 28, 2025. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/21900-membrane-sweep.

UCLA Health. "Schedule of Prenatal Care." Accessed April 28, 2025. https://www.uclahealth.org/sites/default/files/documents/Schedule_of_Prenatal_Care.pdf.

March of Dimes. "Prenatal Care Checkups." Accessed April 28, 2025. https://www.marchofdimes.org/find-support/topics/planning-baby/prenatal-care-checkups.

HealthPartners. "Pregnancy Appointments Timeline." Accessed April 28, 2025. https://www.healthpartners.com/blog/pregnancy-appointments-timeline/#:~:text=Once%20you're%20near%20the,Visit%20%237:%2036%20weeks.

Natera. "Horizon Advanced Carrier Screening." Accessed April 28, 2025. https://www.natera.com/womens-health/horizon-advanced-carrier-screening/.

Pregnancy, Birth and Baby. "Interventions During Labour." Accessed April 28, 2025. https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/interventions-during-labour#:~:text=An%20intervention%20is%20an%20action,labour%20if%20unexpected%20complications%20occur.

Cicali, Brian, and Stephan Schmidt. "Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics of Labor Induction Agents." Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology 63 (2023): 545–568. https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-pharmtox-051921-122822.

Simkin, Penny. "Pain, Suffering, and Trauma in Labor and Prevention of Subsequent Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder." Journal of Perinatal Education 17, no. 3 (2008): 9–17. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1523-536X.2008.00291.x.

Disclaimer: The information shared on On the Outside is for informational and educational purposes only. I am not a doctor, medical professional, or licensed healthcare provider. The content of this podcast is based on my personal experiences and research, but it should not be taken as medical advice. Always consult with your doctor or a qualified healthcare professional before making any decisions related to your pregnancy, health, or well-being. Every pregnancy is unique, and what works for one person may not be right for another.