4 Weeks Pregnant

4 weeks pregnant: Pregnancy health and lifestyle information

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Doctor’s appointments and tests

If you did not see a health professional for preconception care (see Pregnancy Planning for more information) you should visit a doctor this week. Many interventions which can help keep your baby healthy during pregnancy are most effective if they are instituted early. If you’ve already received preconception care, there’s no need to visit the doctor yet. Book an appointment to visit your doctor next week, week 5, for your first doctor’s appointment.

The placenta begins producing hCG, the hormone which pregnancy tests detect, this week. Although you have not yet missed your menstrual period, it is already possible to take a pregnancy test! However, it is recommended that you wait until at least 5 weeks since the start of your last menstrual period before taking a test. Some 10% of pregnant women do not have detectable levels of hCG in their urine at the beginning of week 5 of pregnancy, even though they’re pregnant. For other women, hCG production may begin before early spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), so taking the test too early may mean you detect a pregnancy which never gets properly established.

Taking a pregnancy test in week 4 won’t do any physical harm but it may cause unnecessary anxiety. If you’re trying to get pregnant, don’t lose heart if the test is negative; it might just be a little too early to detect. If you get a positive result you may want wait a week or two to tell your family and friends, just in case the pregnancy is lost to early miscarriage.

Health and lifestyle tips and information

A healthy diet and exercise are important measures for a healthy pregnancy. Even in the very early stages of pregnancy it’s important to ensure you’re eating all the right foods and avoiding all the potentially harmful ones (for more information see Pregnancy and Food). Exercise is also best started before or in the early stages of pregnancy (for more information see Pregnancy and Exercise).

Now that you’re pregnant you may be wondering whether or not you should keep having sex. If you feel like sex, you may be wondering whether it’s safe to have sex in early pregnancy. The overwhelming majority of women can have sex safely throughout their pregnancy. If you are having a regular pregnancy and you’re in the mood to have sex, don’t be afraid to orgasm. However, if your pregnancy is considered “high risk”, you may be advised not to. Ask your doctor if sex is safe in your particular case.