To continue with the series related to pregnancy and newborns,
for the moms to be in Lebanon, the first test to do is the pharmacy test:
1- First test if you think you maybe pregnant:
I bought a Clearblue test from a pharmacy at 12 000LL.
if the + appears, it means you are pregnant! and you can begin offering champagne to your family (you cannot drink champagne, you will drink some water ).
ps: in 2 words this test is easy to use, the pharmacist will recommend you to do it in the morning, you should do pipi (urine) on it, and look at the screen, 2 minutes after you may be sure if there is a plus or a minus.
in brief, this test measures an hormone that exists in the urine. the Human chorionic gonadotropin (hcG) is a hormone produced initially by an embryo in the early stages of pregnancy.
here are 2 snapshots for the easy digital test:
2- Call your gynecologist, or choose a good one (after asking some of your friends and relatives):
If you call the gynecologists in Lebanon, all will give you a meeting one month after, you did the clear blue test ( I tested it! I was impatient of making sure that I am pregnant, but no, all the secretary, even with all the “habibteh” involved, will make sure for you to take an appointment one month later.
The gynecologist will do an ultra-sound / echography, the Social Security in Lebanon covers the test and the gynecologist tariffs.
in Lebanon each visit will cost you around 50 000LL to 60 000 LL (ultra-sound / echography included) , some of those who think they can do miracles will take 80$, ultra-sound / echography excluded. I called more than 9 gynecologists in Lebanon (women and men) before choosing the one I felt the most comfortable with.
3- Tests before pregnancy – the Wedding tests that are an Obligation to do:
The gynecologist I chose, is excellent, he said to me why re-do all the blood tests, you did them before the wedding:
In Lebanon, all people who want to get married are Obliged to do some medical tests, by the Lebanese state.
the toxoplasmose, HIV, rubella, Hemoglobine…. are a must to check.
People will have to go to Adlieh, from the Syndicate of doctors, they will have to pay for the 2 forms they take to fill 🙂 around 30 $ we don’t remember exactly.
here are some snapshots of the forms to fill by both partners.
than you will have to go to a laboratory or an hospital to do the blood tests.
the cost of the blood test for men and women are below ( that is what we paid for them, in 2012).
around 137000 LL for a women and 98000 LL for the men.
below is a snapshot with the price of each test:
for both women and men:
the toxoplasmose, will help women to know what to eat and not to eat during pregnancy,
and if each women has an allergy on cats, dogs or whatever.
4- Tests to do During Pregnancy:
on each visit, the blood pressure, the weight and an urine test for albumin and glucose are measured.
some gynecologists in Lebanon, will ask their patient to do some blood test each 3 months, to make sure of diabetes,
but my gynecologist, make sure that everything is fine by during an urine test during pregnancy using strips.
here is a snapshot of the test we do on each appointment.
before the ultra-sound / echography…..
those tests will take less than 5 minutes, and are important it helps to know if there is a diabetes that is being prepared or preeclampsia, it means a lot of sweet or salt in the blood…. 🙂
I hope that this post and the information it has are useful to some…
Rita Chemaly
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