Ultrasounds and check-ups
Once you have had your first appointment, your doctor will tell you when he wants to see you again according to your condition.
If you have decided to do the public prenatal screening, the test center will give you an appointment for the second blood sample collection between weeks 14+0 and 16+6 of your pregnancy.
You will have a second ultrasound at around 20 to 22 weeks. The request for this appointment will be transmitted to you in your patient portal after your first-trimester ultrasound.
If you wish to have your ultrasound outside the hospital, make sure to make an appointment for that.
Consult the list of clinics offering this service:
Morphology Ultrasounds (2nd trimester)
Écho-Médic 450-668-3246
Radilogix 514-228-5153
Laboratoire CDL (fees charged $) 514-341-1777
If you wish to have your ultrasound at the Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé, please let us know and we will send your request to the hospital. The hospital will contact you to give you the appointment. We suggest that you make the appointment at least six weeks in advance.
Blood test and sample collection
You will have a second-trimester blood test at around 26 weeks of pregnancy. You must do it at the Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé test center. We suggest that you make an appointment at least six weeks in advance.
To make an appointment at Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé test center, call 1-877-644-4545 or make your appointment online.
It is possible, depending on your state of health and the progress of your pregnancy, that your doctor may prescribe other blood tests or other ultrasounds.
A vaginal sample will be taken between weeks 35 and 37 so as to verify whether you are a carrier of the Group B Streptococcus bacteria. This test will be done in the office by your doctor during a medical visit.
If you have an Rh-negative blood type, you will receive WinRho immunoglobulin so as to avoid maternal alloimmunization. This must be done at 28 weeks of pregnancy. Your doctor will give you the request if necessary. You must make an appointment at Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé Hospital test center.
For more information about maternal alloimmunization (in French):
Vaccination
For the whooping cough vaccine, you must call your CLSC to make an appointment. The ideal period to receive the vaccine is between weeks 28 and 32. It is free of charge, and you don’t need a prescription.
Whooping cough explanatory leaflet
In flu season, and according to the recommendations of the Canadian public health authorities, your physician will suggest that you get the vaccination. He will give you the information and the place to go to get vaccinated at that time.
Prenatal screening
The government of Quebec offers pregnant women the option of doing a prenatal screening for certain chromosomal abnormalities on a voluntary basis. The screening aims to detect trisomy 13, trisomy 18, and trisomy 21.
The screening consists of an ultrasound to look for anatomical abnormalities in the first trimester and to measure the nuchal translucency. It is completed with a biochemical examination consisting of two blood sample collections few weeks apart. The ultrasound and blood results are combined to evaluate the risk of chromosomal abnormalities.
This screening examination is offered free of charge.
If the screening result turns out to be elevated, your doctor will continue the investigation with a non-invasive prenatal genomic test that analyzes the fetal DNA in the maternal blood, or directly with a diagnostic test.
Certain pregnant woman with precise risk factors can have, at no charge, a maternal blood fetal DNA test. Your physician will let you know if that is the case at your first appointment.
Moreover, it is possible to have a non-invasive prenatal genomic screening test that analyzes fetal DNA in maternal blood even if you do not meet the criteria required by the government of Quebec. However, you would need to mention it to your doctor so that he will prescribe the examination that comes at a cost. The private laboratory at our clinic offers the non-invasive prenatal genomic test that analyzes the fetal DNA.
Document from the government of Quebec:
https://www.quebec.ca/sante/conseils-et-prevention/depistage-et-offre-de-tests-de-porteur/programme-quebecois-de-depistage-prenatal#:~:text=Le%20test%20g%C3%A9nomique%20est%20un,d'ADN%20provenant%20du%20placenta
PDQT21 Leaflet:
https://publications.msss.gouv.qc.ca/msss/fichiers/2020/20-931-04F.pdf https://publications.msss.gouv.qc.ca/msss/fichiers/2020/20-931-04A.pdf