Women at high risk, and those women with an existing condition such as diabetes or having a Rhesus negative blood group, are carefully monitored so that the baby’s welfare is never in jeopardy.

You will attend an antenatal clinic at either the hospital where you will have your baby or at your doctor’s surgery. Most of the women attend once a month or so up until 7 months of pregnancy, every two weeks up to 9 months of pregnancy, and then once a week for the last month.

You will need to attend mo/e frequently if any complications develop, such as your expecting more than one baby, if you have a pre-existing medical condition, or if you are at risk.

Attending an antenatal clinic in a hospital can be intimidating and frustrating: there may be a large number of staff coming and going, and you may be kept waiting for some time. Many women describe it as a cattle market. Negative feelings can be made much worse by the discontinuity of care — it’s quite possible to see different nurses and doctors at every visit. Much of this can be avoided if you opt for shared care, a GP unit, or the “domino” system where you mainly see your doctor or your midwife for check-ups, with occasional visits to the hospital antenatal clinic.

When you go, try to make the best of your time at the antenatal clinic by taking along something to read or to do, and some food and drink just in case the food trolley doesn’t come by while you are there. Take a friend or your partner with you for company and moral support.

Ideally, your partner should attend at least one antenatal clinic with you so that he is familiar with what you go through and can sympathize. He can also have his questions answered and, most importantly, give you moral support. If you already have young children, arrange for them to be looked after if at all possible because they can be quite a handful in a confined space with little to interest them.

On your first visit to the antenatal clinic, you will be asked various questions on the following subjects:

- Your personal details and circumstances including age, marital status, next of kin and religion.

- Childhood illnesses or serious illnesses you have had.

- Serious illnesses that run in your family or in your partners family

- Whether there are twins in your family

- What symptoms of pregnancy you have, and the state of your general health.

- Details of previous births, pregnancies or problems in conceiving.

- Whether you are taking any prescription medication or whether you suffer from any allergies.

- your menstrual history — when you started, how long your average cycle is, how many days you bleed, and the date of your last menstrual period (IMP).

- From the above information, your estimated delivery date (EDD) will be calculated.

There are more than 100 types of HPV, most of which cause infection without any symptoms and will clear. However, some strains of the virus can cause infections with serious consequences.

About 30 types of HPV are known as genital HPV since they affect the genital area. Some types can cause cervical cancer or abnormal in the lining of the cervix that could turn into cancer. HPV type 16 and 18 account for an estimated 70% of all cervical cancers, while other cancer causing HPV types are associated with about half of all vaginal, vulvar and penile cancers, and about 85% of anal cancers.

*Non-cancer causing HPV types 6 and 11 have a negligible risk of progressing but may persist, and account for 90% of all genital warts.

HPV is also responsible for nearly all juvenile onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis – a rare disease acquired through the vertical transmission of HPV from mother to infant, characterized by warts in the throat of the child. HPV may not show any signs or symptoms, so people can transmit the virus without even knowing it. Because the virus is transmitted via the skin, even non penetrative sexual contact can result in passing on the virus to another person.

How do You know if You have contracted HPV?
Most people infected with HPV do not know they have it. HPVrelated cervical lesions can be detected by Papanicolaou (Pap) test, or Pap smear. A Pap test is the primary cancer-screening tool for cervical cancer or pre-cancerous changes in the cervix, many of which are related to HPV.

A HPV DNA test can also identify 13 of the cancer causing HPV types associated with the development of cervical cancer. Most women are diagnosed with HPV on the basis of abnormal Pap test results. There is no laboratory test available to detect HPV infection in men.
How is HPV treated?
Unfortunately, at current moment, there is no known cure for HPV infection yet. However, HPV-related lesions and warts can be treated by freezing and destroying the affected tissues, removal using a hot wire loop and conventional surgery.

Cervical Cancer and Precancerous Lesions
Cervix , is the part of the uterus (or womb) that connects to the vagina. Sometimes, cells in the lining of the cervix begin to grow in abnormal ways. This precancerous condition is called dysplasia, and it can go away without treatment for some women.

However, dysplasia may need to be treated to keep it from developing into cancer. Cervical cancer develops when abnormal cells in the lining of the cervix begin to grow out of control, and when these abnormal cells later invade other parts of the body, it is called metastasis.
Abnormal cervical cells sometimes form benign (noncancerous) tumors ; they do not spread and are usually not harmful. Malignant (cancerous) tumors, however, spread from their sources and can grow into life-threatening cancers.