Third-Trimester Visits

During the third trimester, your health care provider will ask you to come in more frequently, usually every other week beginning at week 32 and every week beginning at week 36. Like your earlier visits, your health care provider will check your weight and blood pressure and ask about any symptoms you may be experiencing.

Your health care provider will check your baby’s size and heart rate, and a vaginal exam may be done to check whether your cervix has started preparing for birth. At one of your prenatal care visits during weeks 35 to 37, you will be screened for group B streptococci (GBS),  unless you had a previous baby with GBS infection or had GBS in your urine during this pregnancy.

Your doctor will review the signs and symptoms of labor as you get closer to your due date and you will receive instructions for when to call in labor. The instructions may be individualized for your specific circumstances. The labor process is described in Your Pregnancy and Childbirth: Month to Month and in childbirth preparation classes.

In some cases, your doctor will order tests (antepartum testing) to watch your pregnancy more closely in the third trimester. This will occur if you have such complications as gestational diabetes or high blood pressure, are having twins or go past your due date. The testing is usually done at one of the perinatal centers, but can be performed in the hospital.

The most common tests used to monitor you pregnancy in the third trimester are the Non-Stress Test (NST), the Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI) and the Biophysical Profile (BPP).

During your third trimester, you should pre-register at the hospital so you don’t have to fill out paperwork when you arrive in labor. This is also the time to talk to your employer about your maternity benefits.