MDwise
Pregnancy

Pregnancy

One of the best benefits of a healthy pregnancy is having a healthy baby. As soon as you know you are pregnant, go see a health care provider. This might be a doctor, nurse-midwife or nurse practitioner:

• Early prenatal care gives you the best start possible. Make your first visit before you reach 12 weeks of pregnancy.
• See your health care provider regularly.
• Your provider will check on you and your baby and make sure everything is fine.

Doctors and midwives can find health problems sooner when they see mothers regularly. Early treatment can cure many problems and prevent others.

FSSA and MDwise Help Pregnant Members Who Use Opioids

Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) offers the Indiana Promise Program to pregnant and postpartum members who use or have used opioids in the past.

The free program offers support while the mother is pregnant through 12 months after the end of pregnancy. Mothers who join will have help getting prenatal and postpartum care. They will get support for physical and mental health, and treatment for opioid use disorder.

The program is available to pregnant members in the state of Indiana. To be eligible, participants must meet the following criteria:

• Pregnant or within the 90 days following pregnancy.
• Uses opioids or has in the past.
• Be eligible for or receive Medicaid.

To learn more, visit https://www.in.gov/fssa/promise/

Indiana Pregnancy Promise Flyer (English)
Indiana Pregnancy Promise Flyer (Spanish)

Protecting You and Your Baby

Do not smoke, drink alcohol or use drugs while pregnant. When you smoke, drink or take drugs, you pass harmful chemicals to your baby. 

You may know people who smoked, drank or used drugs when they were pregnant, and their babies seem okay, but it’s risky. Many problems for the baby are not seen until they get older.

Quitting is the best thing you can do for yourself and your baby.

It is safe and very important for a woman who is pregnant during flu season to receive the inactivated flu vaccine. A pregnant woman who gets the flu is at risk for serious complications and hospitalization. Vaccinating a new mother against pertussis (whooping cough) also reduces the risk to her infant. Also, a woman who is not immune to measles, mumps, rubella and/or varicella (chickenpox) should be vaccinated before leaving the hospital.

Did you know that your baby gets disease immunity (protection) from you during pregnancy? But it is temporary protection and only for the diseases you are immune to. Protect your new baby and learn about infant immunization. Talk to your health care provider today.

Forty Weeks of Pregnancy

Forty weeks of pregnancy is best. A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks. Your baby grows a lot in the last weeks of pregnancy. The baby gets stronger. Important lung and brain development happens.
 
With some pregnancies, the doctor may tell you that you need a scheduled delivery. A scheduled delivery is when you and your doctor pick the day to deliver your baby.

Here is what the experts say about scheduled deliveries:

• It is best to wait for natural labor. As long as there is not a medical reason for you to deliver before your due date, you should wait.
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that scheduled deliveries should not take place before 39 weeks into your pregnancy unless there is a medical reason.
• The closer your baby is born to their due date, the healthier they should be.

Text4baby

There are a lot of things to remember when you're pregnant or a new mom. Text4baby makes it easy to get important information, and it's free.

Where Can I Find More Information?

Learn more about high blood pressure at the following websites:

Learn more about high blood pressure at the following websites:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
• American Heart Association
• National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

View and print these helpful pregnancy handouts

Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy
Quick Tips for Healthy Pregnancy Habits
Pregnancy: Your Nutrition
Pregnancy: Vegetarian Diet
Nutrition During Pregnancy
Healthy Pregnancy: Weight Gain
Gestational Diabetes
Gestational Diabetes and Eating
High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy
Pregnancy: How to Manage Depression
Newborn Care: What to Expect

Materials were compiled from the following sources: Indiana Perinatal Network, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov

DR-10-2024-14799/HHW-HIPM1440 (10/24)