Blood tests in pregnancy

[Sb2012]

For the booking in blood tests what exactly do they check? I know they check for infectious diseases such as HIV rubella etc
But do they also do a full blood count? Or do they just check for iron levels? Do they check thyroid function etc too?

I don't know fully what they check but they check your blood type - which a lot of people don't know - to see whether you are a positive or negative blood type. If negative, you need to have an anti-D (?) injection further into pregnancy and possibly again on childbirth.

They check your blood type, HIV status, syphillis and rubella. Might also check for sickle cell but nothing else as far as I remember

So they don’t actually do a full blood count?

They don't do a full blood count or check any hormone levels. It's infectious diseases, your blood type and iron levels.

I thought they did a complete blood count to check platelets white blood cells Red blood cells etc. So all they check is iron levels, blood group and then for infectious diseases?

@Sb2012

I thought they did a complete blood count to check platelets white blood cells Red blood cells etc. So all they check is iron levels, blood group and then for infectious diseases?

Nope

They check iron levels, your blood type and that's pretty much it.

They don't do infectious diseases as there are 1000s of them so that would involve a lot of unnecessary testing

Im a midwife. We most definitely do a full blood count. We do one at booking and another one at around 28 weeks.

Just to clarify as the there is a lot of misinformation on this thread. We check the following: Blood group, full blood picture, sickle cell and thalassaemia screen, HIV, Hep B and Syphilis.

Rubella screening has stopped in most areas. If there is an individual need then your thyroid would be checked. Iron studies would be done if your full blood picture was abnormal.

@stopchewingeverything

Just to clarify as the there is a lot of misinformation on this thread. We check the following: Blood group, full blood picture, sickle cell and thalassaemia screen, HIV, Hep B and Syphilis.

Rubella screening has stopped in most areas. If there is an individual need then your thyroid would be checked. Iron studies would be done if your full blood picture was abnormal.

Thank you so much! Now that makes sense.

I was a little confuse how they would know you are anaemic without doing a full blood count as it’s usually part of that test isn’t it?
Also surely platelets etc would want to be looked at especially for women at risk of bleeding etc

Excellent @stopchewingeverything

Are you a midwife?