Pregnancy Panel
Routine and recommended antenatal bloods, explained by an obstetrician
Booking bloods - first trimester
Your first antenatal panel does two things at once: it tells us how your body is adapting to this pregnancy, and it flags anything that could affect your baby while there is still time to act.
It screens for iron deficiency and anaemia, for inherited conditions of the blood such as sickle cell and thalassaemia, and for infections that can pass from mother to baby — both sexually transmitted and blood-borne. It establishes your blood group and checks for antibodies that could affect your baby's red cells. It confirms whether you are immune to rubella and chickenpox. And it checks a urine sample for infection, which in pregnancy is often present without symptoms.
Beyond routine NHS screening. The NHS antenatal programme covers much of this panel, and covers it well. Ours adds immunity checks for rubella and chickenpox, along with ferritin, vitamin D and thyroid function — none routinely offered unless there is a specific clinical reason.
On the day. The first trimester is not most women's finest hour, and having blood taken while nauseated and exhausted is nobody's idea of a morning out. You will be sitting down, in a private room, with someone in no rush. If you would rather lie flat, or need a few minutes first, that is entirely usual.
What we measure: Full blood count · Ferritin and iron studies · ABO group and Rhesus D · Red cell antibody screen · Haemoglobinopathy screen · HIV · Hepatitis B · Syphilis · Rubella IgG · Varicella IgG · TSH · Free T4 · Vitamin D · Vitamin B12 · Folate · Mid-stream urine culture
The
28-week screen
By 28 weeks, the way your body handles sugar has changed. The placenta produces hormones that make you more resistant to insulin, so you need more of it to keep blood sugar stable. If your body cannot produce that extra insulin, blood sugar rises, and that is gestational diabetes.
It matters because it is common, treatable, and because untreated it carries real risk: premature birth, a larger baby and a more difficult delivery, and for you, a higher chance of pre-eclampsia and of developing type 2 diabetes later. Almost all of that risk falls away once it is found and managed.
We pair the glucose test with the rest of the third-trimester panel, because this is also when your body's demand for iron peaks and thyroid function commonly shifts. One appointment, one needle, the whole picture.
Mini GTT — our first-line test. Fasting for one hour beforehand. Suitable for most women with no specific risk factors.
Full GTT — the standard of care where risk is higher: a previous affected pregnancy, a first-degree relative with diabetes, a raised BMI, PCOS, a previous large baby, or a family background associated with higher risk. Fasting from midnight, and it takes around two and a half hours.
On the day of a full GTT, we would rather you spent those hours comfortably at our clinic than in a corridor. You will have somewhere quiet to sit and someone looking in on you between draws.
What we measure: Fasting glucose · Post-load glucose · HbA1c · Full blood count · Ferritin and iron studies · Red cell antibody screen · TSH · Free T4 · Vitamin D · Vitamin B12 · Folate · Calcium · Urine glucose (full GTT)
Book an Appointment
If your result indicates gestational diabetes, you will see our dietitian as the first line of treatment is dietary, and how quickly you get that advice makes a real difference. Your obstetrician will discuss monitoring, growth scans and delivery planning. And we will book your post-pregnancy glucose check before you leave, because that follow-up is the one most commonly missed.
The obstetrician who explains your result is the one who will still be looking after you at 36 weeks. You will not have to tell this story twice.