“A well-supervised pregnancy is a healthy baby.“This message, carried by pharmaceutical laboratories Roche Diagnostics France, is addressed to all pregnant women or having a desire for a child. In a press release, the Roche group announces in fact launching an information campaign with 1,000 medical analysis laboratories in France to encourage reinforced monitoring of women during their pregnancy. This would consist of more extensive and frequent blood or urine tests.
Generalize CMV testing and monitor preeclampsia
Currently, in France, three follow-up ultrasounds are systematically offered. Pregnant women should also perform mandatory tests, such as the blood test. toxoplasmosis, syphilis, trisomy 21 or rubella. But, to ensure an optimal progress of the pregnancy and limit the risks for the mother and for the unborn child, the Roche laboratories propose to systematize a series of additional tests. Pregnant women could, for example, take an automatic test for HIV, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and hepatitis B, which are not yet generalized, but also, in some cases, bacteriological examinations specific to a specific risk or follow-up of the Gestational Diabetes. CMV can indeed cause sequelae in the fetal nervous system if the mother is infected and transmits this virus to her child. However, pregnant women are “more vulnerable to infections because [leurs] immune defenses weaken. Here again, the biological diagnosis plays a fundamental role in the prevention and in the monitoring of the evolution of possible maternal-fetal infections, often asymptomatic, [qu’elles pourraient] send to [leur] baby before or during childbirth“explains the Roche Diagnostics laboratory. In addition, monitoring blood pressure and the presence of proteins in the urine also makes it possible to quickly detect the risk of pre-eclampsia. The disease affects one in 20 pregnancies and can lead to stunted growth and even death of the mother or child, according to theInserm.
What support ?
These additional examinations should be able to be fully covered by social security since, in addition to the third ultrasound of the last trimester, the compulsory prenatal consultations and the birth preparation sessions, “additional biological examinations (including those of the future father)“are reimbursed at 100%, according to the health insurance website ameli.fr.
In addition, from the 6th month of pregnancy, “all reimbursable medical expenses (pharmaceuticals, analyzes, laboratory examinations, hospitalization) are covered at 100%, whether or not they are related to the pregnancy“emphasizes health insurance.
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