There are quite a few things that are going to surprise you when you starting going in to see your OBGYN when you are starting your very first pregnancy. Your appointments are all going to be to make sure your pregnancy is going smoothly, but there are some things that you may not consider before you get pregnant, but that may be a big deal now that you have a child on the way. One thing some women are surprised by is the discussion about genetic testing. This can actually be very important to you when the time comes.
At first, genetic testing is just going to be a topic of discussion. Your doctor (or your doctor's nurse) is going to want to sit down with both you and the father of the baby to talk about your family health history. You want to be honest as best you can about anything on either side of the family that you know about. Most of this information they need in regards to genetic testing is about diseases that can be passed on from generation to generation, not embarrassing stuff that you may want to keep to yourself otherwise. It is important to be as open as possible.
Anything like stroke or heart disease can be inherited as a risk, but that is not what they want for genetic testing. There are a few conditions and diseases that can be checked for with genetic testing that can be a problem for your baby. At the very least, they can tell you what the chances are of your baby having a problem with any genetic conditions after birth and on throughout a life time. Some genetic disorders have severe consequences, and they want you to be fully aware early in the pregnancy.
Genetic testing is often done through a blood sample that contains your DNA, and may be done in some cases with amniocentesis, though not until later in the pregnancy. For the most part, you are not going to have any reason to have genetic testing done. If you are a candidate for it, you probably already know that before you even get pregnant. Most diseases and conditions found through this testing are things you are already going to know run in your family. You may even know your odds of passing it on. You may not know about your spouse or partner's family though, so listen up when talking at your appointment.
You can also have genetic testing done later on if it is suspected that something is wrong. Though we know some of our family, some of us have missing fathers, mothers, or other members that influenced our genetics, but we know nothing about them. If this is the case for you, you may have to choose whether you want to have testing done or not on the off chance that there is something there. Again, as with most couples, you won't have much to worry about. However, if there is something there, perhaps you want to get the testing out of the way, just so you know.