How to use a pregnancy calendar
Weeks show the sequence of care; they do not promise an identical experience for everyone. The due date is an estimate, and your clinician sets the timing of examinations according to gestation, medical history and results. Keep appointments, referrals and the maternity unit's contact in one place. If you registered late or missed a test, do not let embarrassment cause another delay: call your clinician and make a safe plan from today.
First trimester: through 13+6 weeks
Pregnancy is confirmed, the estimated due date is calculated and health risks are assessed. Registration by week 12 is advisable. Care generally includes blood-pressure and weight assessment, blood and urine tests, blood group and infection screening according to Latvia's programme and your individual needs.
NVD places the first state-funded ultrasound at weeks 11–13. Together with blood-test data, it forms part of first-trimester screening. Since 2026, state-funded NIPT is available in specified circumstances for pregnancies in a risk group, including altered first-trimester results, increased trisomy risk or maternal age over 35. NIPT is a screening test, not a final diagnosis; a specialist should explain eligibility and what each possible result would mean.
Practical tasks:
- review every medicine and supplement with your clinician;
- ask how to manage nausea and when vomiting becomes unsafe;
- agree whom to call about pain, bleeding or results;
- plan regular food, gentle movement and rest according to how you feel.
Second trimester: weeks 14–27
Nausea may ease, although tiredness, back discomfort and digestive changes can continue and deserve discussion. In NVD-funded care, the second ultrasound is scheduled for weeks 20–21, when fetal anatomy is assessed in detail. A result is not a school grade. If another scan is needed, ask what was seen, what remains uncertain and when the next step will happen.
This is a useful time to compare NVD-contracted maternity units, looking beyond attractive room photographs. Discuss medical needs, travel time, pain relief, newborn-care capacity and companion rules. Start organising work and find out how the electronic B incapacity certificate will later be issued.
Third trimester: from week 28
Appointments usually become more frequent, with attention to your blood pressure and wellbeing, the baby's growth and position, and their usual movement pattern. For an Rh-negative pregnant woman, antibody testing and, when the clinician considers it necessary, state-funded anti-D immunoglobulin are provided around week 28. A third state-funded ultrasound at weeks 34–36 is for risk groups rather than automatically for everyone. NVD also specifies group B streptococcus testing for all pregnant women at weeks 35–37.
By around week 36, it is practical to:
- choose a maternity unit and backup;
- save the unit's number and test the route;
- organise documents, bags and transport at any hour;
- discuss birth preferences and why the plan might need to change;
- arrange practical help for the first days at home.
Questions for every appointment
Ask what the next appointment is intended to check and which tests are routine or specific to you. Find out which symptoms in your situation require a same-day call. If a result is outside the expected range, request a plain-language explanation of its meaning, urgency and available options. Do not focus only on the baby's measurements: sleep, pain, breathing, blood pressure and emotional wellbeing matter too.
When to put the calendar aside
Do not wait for the next appointment if you have bleeding, suspected waters breaking, severe or regular pain before 37 weeks, movements clearly reduced or changed from your baby's normal pattern, severe headache, visual disturbance, sudden swelling, fever or a rapid deterioration in wellbeing. Contact your clinician or maternity unit; call 113 when the situation appears life-threatening.
Build your own calendar instead of living by an app
A digital week counter is a convenient orientation tool, but a personal calendar based on your clinician's plan is more useful. Mark appointments, requested examinations, questions, prescription renewals and the point at which paperwork for the electronic incapacity certificate should be discussed. The NVD ultrasound periods at weeks 11–13 and 20–21 are windows rather than single mandatory dates, so book in good time and confirm the exact timing with your provider. Additional checks are arranged for a clinical reason, not because a popular app sends a notification.
Once a week, write a brief note about how you feel instead of trying to measure every symptom continuously. Useful observations are concrete: when a concern began, how long it lasted, what makes it worse and whether you can drink, eat and manage ordinary activities. Later in pregnancy, learn your own baby's usual pattern of movements; comparing with another pregnancy is less useful than noticing a clear change in your baby's normal pattern. Include practical milestones as well: choosing a maternity unit, testing the route, identifying support and selecting a family doctor for the baby. When the care plan changes, update the calendar without treating this as failure. It is a working tool for conversations and preparation, not a promise that pregnancy will follow one universal timetable.