Trimester: Third Trimester

Learn more about having a health pregnancy from 28 weeks until giving birth.

Prenatal Legal Checkup & Videos

The People’s Community Clinic Medical-Legal Partnership created a legal checkup to help pregnant people in Texas. Watch the videos to help understand common legal needs while pregnant.

What is a legal checkup?

A legal checkup is a tool that can be used by people during all stages of life to figure out:

  • What legal needs they may have
  • What legal issues they can prevent

What is a prenatal legal checkup?

The Medical-Legal Partnership’s prenatal legal checkup is designed to start conversations about health-harming legal needs during pregnancy. Each video covers a different issue, including health insurance, food security, domestic violence, employment, housing, healthcare decisions, parental rights, and breastfeeding. The goal is to help expecting parents to take their health into their own hands.

Why is a prenatal legal checkup important?

  • Every year, 1.7 million people in the U.S. get sick or die simply from getting pregnant.
  • Many illnesses and deaths are due to where we live, grow, work, play, worship, and age. These are called “social determinants of health,” and they matter a lot in staying healthy.
  • Social determinants of health are shaped by legal requirements and restrictions. Having a lawyer can help you know your rights and live a healthier a life.

What if I think I may need legal help after watching the prenatal legal checkup videos?

Find help at TexasLawHelp’s legal help directory.

A note for providers about our prenatal legal checkup video series:

When we added a popular model of group prenatal care, we realized a lot of questions were asked that our traditional healthcare team did not have the structural expertise to fully answer. So we added a medical-legal partnership (MLP) lawyer to our facilitating care team. Like our other MLP attorneys, the prenatal care lawyer is embedded onsite to help address health-harming legal needs. Our MLP model also includes integrating the legal team’s structural expertise into every part of the delivery of healthcare, and so the prenatal care lawyer helped our clinicians and educators plan a curriculum for whole-person care throughout pregnancy. Our MLP lawyers also attend group medical visits, giving patients real-time access to integrated legal expertise. Patients reported reduced stress and increased legal literacy, and our providers reported improved self-efficacy in providing whole-person care. To help assure sustainability, we turned our live sessions into this video series, and we created this website to share our work with you.

Health Insurance

Watch this video to learn more about how to cover the cost of prenatal healthcare. Related topics include:

Public benefits and food security

Watch this video to learn more about what benefits may be available to help your family get nutritious food. Such benefits may include:

Employment

  • Watch this video to learn more about what rights pregnant persons have in the workplace. Learn more at Pregnancy and the workplace.

Domestic violence

Watch this video about Protective Orders to learn more about how to stay safe from domestic violence.

Housing

Watch this video to learn more about housing rights. Related material on TexasLawHelp.org includes:

Medical decision-making

  • Watch this video about medical Decision-making to learn more about how you can control or share your right to make medical decisions during pregnancy, especially if you face a serious pregnancy complication.

Parental Rights: Part One

Watch this video to learn more about parental rights, such as visitation and who gets to make decisions about the child. Topics include:

Parental Rights: Part Two

Watch this video to learn more about parental rights, such as safe visits when one parent has been abusive or is a danger to the child.

Breastfeeding

Early childhood issues

Watch this video to learn about government benefits that can help you get your child extra help in the community and at school, such as SSI. Related topics include:

Power Your Family Plan With Birth Spacing

Am I ready for another baby?

While you’re thinking of everyone else in your family, don’t forget to ask yourself the most important question of all: Am I ready for another baby?

What is best for me?

  • Do I already feel overwhelmed at the
    end of the day?
  • Can I give a new baby the attention
    they deserve?
  • Have I taken the time to grieve?
    (For those who recently had a miscarriage)
  • Have I checked with my doctor to see if my body is ready for another pregnancy?

Why Wait?

  • Improve your health and your baby’s health
  • Give yourself time to heal and get back to normal
  • Give special attention to each child
  • Have time to lose your pregnancy weight

Would your body be ready?

Or do you feel like you are running on empty?
If you’re running on empty, you need to fill up so you can stay healthy for your new family. Pregnancy and breastfeeding can drain your body of nutrients, particularly folate. If you become pregnant again before replacing those nutrients, it could affect your health or your baby’s health.

HOW SOON IS TOO SOON?

Planning to wait 18 –24 months after giving birth before trying to get pregnant again is healthier for mothers and babies. Moms age 35 and older can try again in 12 months because of infertility concerns.

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The Postpartum Check-Up

About 2 weeks after delivery and 6 weeks after delivery, you will need a check-up to make sure your body is healing without problems. If you have a Cesarean delivery, you may have your check-up sooner than if you had a vaginal delivery.

Physical Exam

  • Weight: A woman usually returns to her non-pregnant weight about 6 months after delivery. The postpartum period is ̄not the time to diet. Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet that is low-fat. Talk to your doctor or nurse about weight loss after delivery for advice.
  • Blood Pressure: This is a routine check to be sure your blood pressure is in a normal range.
  • Breast Care: Your doctor will check your breasts for lumps and nipple problems. Your doctor or nurse will also show you how to do breast self exams. Give yourself a breast exam every month a week after your period.
    • If you are bottle feeding and not pumping breastmilk, your breasts will usually return to their normal shape and size in 4 to 6 weeks. Do monthly breast self exams.
    • If you are breastfeeding, your breasts still may be full and feel firm by the 6th week. Checking your breasts daily for lumps or plugged ducts can help prevent problems with discomfort or infection.
  • Abdominal Incision: If you had a Cesarean delivery or your tubes were cut or tied off, you have an incision. Your incision will be checked to make sure healing is complete.

 

Pelvic Exam

This part of the check-up is an internal exam to check the health of your ovaries, uterus (womb), cervix (opening into the womb) and vagina (birth canal). Your perineum, the area around the birth canal, also will be checked for healing.

  • Perineal Area: Your doctor or nurse will examine the areas around the vagina, urethra (opening of the bladder), and rectum for healing.
  • Vagina and Cervix: Your doctor or nurse will slide a thin piece of plastic or metal, called a speculum, into the vagina. A speculum is a duck bill shaped instrument used to hold the vagina open during the exam. A few cells will be taken from your cervix and tested in a laboratory. This is a Pap Smear test and routine in a postpartum check-up.
  • Uterus and Ovaries: The last part of the exam is checking your uterus and ovaries. Your health care professional will feel the shape and size of both. Vaginal bleeding or lochia often stops in the first 4 to 6 weeks after delivery. Bleeding that begins 1 month after delivery is usually your period. A rectal exam may be part of the internal exam if you have had a long or deep episiotomy.

 

Ask Questions!

After your exam, your health care professional will tell you how well your body has healed from delivery. Ask any questions you have about returning to work, exercising, birth control methods, or other health concerns.

Just had a Baby and Feeling Blue?

“I just had a baby, and being a mother is not what I expected.”
“I feel so scared and so sad.”
“Shouldn’t I feel happy?”
“I just don’t feel like myself.”

You may have the Baby Blues or Post-partum Depression (depression after the baby is born).

Is it The Baby Blues?

Very Common. May go away on its own, but talking to a health care provider can help.

Some signs are:

  • Crying
  • Not being able to sleep
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Not wanting to eat
  • Having a short temper or mood swings
Is it Postpartum Depression?

Common. Goes away with help from your health care provider. You can get this anytime during the first year.

Some signs are:

  • Sadness
  • Not wanting to hold or touch your baby
  • Changes in eating
  • Not wanting to talk to family or friends
  • Thoughts about hurting yourself or your baby
Is it Postpartum Anxiety?

Worry that takes over your life. Get help from your health care provider as soon as possible.

Some signs are:

  • Uncontrolled worry
  • Not being able to sleep when the baby does
  • Feeling afraid that something will hurt the baby
  • Feeling afraid that you might hurt the baby
  • Feeling afraid to be alone with the baby
  • Having very scary thoughts
  • Chest pains
  • Feeling dizzy
  • Sweating or shaking
Is it Postpartum Psychosis?

Not common. Emergency–get help right away!

Some signs are:

  • Hallucinations
  • Feeling very confused
  • Speech that does not make sense
  • Severe insomnia
  • Having thoughts about hurting yourself or your baby right now

You are not alone! There is help available for you and your baby.

Call for Help:

Find Help Online:

What You Should Know About Domestic Violence

It may begin gradually, in ways you don’t think of as abuse, like emotional or verbal attacks. It can start when you are pregnant or when the new baby is born. These things can cause the stress level in your home or relationship to change.

  • If you are a victim or survivor of abuse --

    • You are not to blame for another person’s violence.
    • You have the right to a safe healthy relationship.
    • You deserve to be treated with respect.
    • Make a safety plan in case you need to leave quickly.
    • Establish contacts with friends and family so you have a place to go in an emergency.
    • Consider getting a protective order to protect yourself

  • Reach out for support

    • You are not alone. Support and help are here. Visit SAFEaustin.org for assistance.
    • Call the Safe Place 24 hour help line: 512-267-7233
    • National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
    • Austin Police Department Victim Services: 512-974-5037
    • Texas Department of Family and Protective Services: 1-800-252-5400
    • United Way Capitol Area: 211
    • Dial 911 in an emergency

What is abuse?

Emotional Abuse
  • constant criticism or making you feel bad
  • blame for things that aren’t your fault
  • constant jealousy
  • being lied to, punished, or threatened, especially if you try to leave
Isolation
  • you are prevented from seeing family or friends
  • your partner is very jealous of anyone else in your life
Threats
  • your partner threatens your family, friends, pets, or property
Economic Abuse
  • your control over money or income is threatened
Physical Abuse
  • pushing, slapping, kicking, biting, restraining, use of a weapon against you or having things thrown at you
  • any action you don’t want that causes you injury or pain
Sexual Abuse
  • you are forced to have sex
  • you are shamed or hurt without your permission
  • your partner refuses to practice birth control or safe sex
Property Destruction
  • frightening you by smashing or destroying things
  • damaging or stealing things that you value

Truths about abuse

No one deserves abuse.

Domestic violence is not mutual. It is not just an argument or a lover’s quarrel.

People who stay in abusive relationships do not enjoy violence. Leaving is not simple. Some people are too frightened. Some hope the abuse will stop. Many people do not know about resources or have the information they need.

Abuse can be found in all parts of the community. No one group is free from domestic violence. People from any social group can be abused.

There is no excuse for violent behavior. Using violence is a choice. There are always other ways. Substance abuse, stress, illness, and childhood abuse are often used as excuses. But the abusive person is responsible for their actions.

Abuse and pregnancy

For 1 of every 3 women who are abused, the first abuse happens during pregnancy.

An unhealthy relationship is not just physically hurtful. Emotional, verbal and sexual abuse are dangerous to your well-being and the well-being of your unborn child.

Being abused before or during your pregnancy increases your risk of miscarriage, anemia, infections, bleeding during the first and second trimester, and having a low birth weight baby.

You are not alone. Support and help are here.