Planning your care
Your prenatal schedule, with real dates
Enter your due date or your last period and see your whole prenatal calendar dated for you — every routine visit, every screening window, every vaccine, from the first appointment to your due date. It runs on your device: nothing is sent or saved.
This is the routine schedule for a low-risk pregnancy. High-risk pregnancies get a different, closer plan — your provider's plan always wins.
Prenatal schedule planner
Every window is now dated in the full calendar below — print it or save it as a PDF to bring to your first visit.
An educational estimate built on ACOG and CDC timing guidance, not a diagnosis or a care plan. Exact dates shift with how your pregnancy is dated — your provider's schedule is the one to follow.
Week by week
The full prenatal calendar
Every routine visit, screening window, vaccine, and milestone of a low-risk pregnancy, in order — what happens at each and why it's timed the way it is. Use the planner above to stamp your own dates onto every row.
- Visit Weeks 8–10
First prenatal visit
What happens: The long one: full medical history, physical exam, blood pressure, and the biggest lab panel of the pregnancy — blood type and Rh factor, blood count, immunity checks, urine testing, and screening for HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B, and other infections. Many practices add a dating ultrasound.
Why now: Dating a pregnancy is most accurate early, and the baseline labs — especially your Rh type and the infection screens — drive decisions for the rest of the pregnancy. Call as soon as you have a positive test; slots at 8–10 weeks fill up.
- Screening (optional) From week 10
NIPT (cell-free DNA screening)
What happens: An optional blood draw that screens for the most common chromosomal conditions — trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), 18, and 13 — and can report the baby's sex. A screen, not a diagnosis.
Why now: Before 10 weeks there usually isn't enough placental DNA circulating in your blood for a reliable result, so 10 weeks is the earliest it's offered. There's no hard deadline after that.
- Diagnostic (if indicated) Weeks 10–13
CVS (chorionic villus sampling)
What happens: A small sample of placenta tested for chromosomal and genetic conditions — offered when a screening result or family history raises a question. Unlike NIPT, it's diagnostic: it gives an answer, not a probability.
Why now: The window is set by the placenta: earlier is unsafe, and after 13 weeks amniocentesis (from about 15 weeks) becomes the diagnostic option instead. If you might want CVS, this window is the one that closes fastest.
- Visit rhythm Weeks ~12–28 · every 4 weeks
Routine visits every 4 weeks
What happens: Short check-ins: blood pressure, urine, weight, the baby's heartbeat, fundal height once you're far enough along — and your questions.
Why now: Problems like preeclampsia and growth issues announce themselves in these simple, repeated measurements. The rhythm is the point: each visit is quick, but the trend line is what catches trouble early.
- Screening (optional) Weeks 15–22
Quad screen (maternal serum)
What happens: A blood test measuring four markers to screen for neural-tube defects and chromosomal conditions. Often used when NIPT wasn't done, or alongside it for the spina-bifida part of the screen.
Why now: The four markers can only be interpreted against this gestational-age range — outside weeks 15–22 the math behind the result doesn't work, so the window is firm.
- Ultrasound Weeks 18–22
Anatomy scan
What happens: The detailed ultrasound: every major organ and structure, growth measurements, the placenta's position, and amniotic fluid. Usually the scan where you can learn the sex, if you want to.
Why now: By 18 weeks the anatomy is large enough to see clearly; by 22 there's still time to arrange further testing or plan specialized care if anything needs a closer look.
- Lab test Weeks 24–28
Glucose screen (OGTT)
What happens: The gestational-diabetes screen: a sugary drink, then a blood draw an hour later to see how your body handles it. An abnormal screen leads to a longer confirmatory test — not a diagnosis by itself.
Why now: Placental hormones push blood sugar up as pregnancy progresses, so gestational diabetes typically appears mid-pregnancy. Catching and treating it measurably improves outcomes for both of you.
- Vaccine Weeks 27–36
Tdap (whooping-cough booster)
What happens: One dose in every pregnancy, no matter when you last had one. Earlier in the window is preferred.
Why now: Your antibodies cross the placenta and protect the baby against pertussis until their own vaccines start at 2 months. Getting it early in the 27–36-week window maximizes how much transfers before birth.
- Injection (if Rh-negative) Week ~28
Rh immune globulin (RhoGAM)
What happens: An anti-D immune globulin shot — only if your blood type is Rh-negative, which your first-visit labs establish. It's repeated after birth if the baby turns out to be Rh-positive.
Why now: It stops your immune system from making antibodies against an Rh-positive baby's red blood cells — a complication that's easy to prevent at 28 weeks and serious to treat once it starts.
- Visit rhythm Weeks 28–36 · every 2 weeks
Routine visits every 2 weeks
What happens: The same checks, twice as often — blood pressure, urine, growth, and the baby's movements and position.
Why now: Third-trimester complications like preeclampsia can develop quickly, so surveillance tightens as you approach term.
- Vaccine (seasonal) Weeks 32–36 · Sept–Jan
RSV vaccine (if in season)
What happens: One dose of the maternal RSV vaccine, recommended since 2023 when weeks 32–36 fall during RSV season — roughly September through January in most of the continental US.
Why now: Your antibodies protect the newborn through their highest-risk months for severe RSV. If you don't get the vaccine, the baby can get an antibody shot (nirsevimab) after birth instead — it's one or the other, usually not both.
- Lab swab Weeks 36–37
Group B strep (GBS) swab
What happens: A quick vaginal-rectal swab for group B strep — bacteria that roughly 1 in 4 women carry harmlessly, but that can be serious for a newborn during birth.
Why now: Taken at 36 0/7–37 6/7 weeks, the result best predicts your status at delivery. A positive simply means IV antibiotics during labor — no treatment before, and nothing to do differently at home.
- Visit rhythm Week 36 → birth · weekly
Weekly visits until delivery
What happens: Weekly now: blood pressure, the baby's position, and often cervical checks as you approach your due date.
Why now: The final weeks are when blood-pressure problems and post-term risks concentrate — weekly eyes on both of you until delivery.
- Milestone Week 37
Early term begins
What happens: From 37 0/7 weeks, a birth is "early term" — no longer preterm.
Why now: Lungs and brain are still finishing up, so unless there's a medical reason, delivery isn't electively scheduled yet.
- Milestone Week 39
Full term begins
What happens: 39 0/7 through 40 6/7 weeks is "full term" — the sweet spot for delivery.
Why now: Outcomes are best from 39 weeks on, which is why elective deliveries and inductions aren't scheduled before then.
- Milestone Week 40 · due date
Your estimated due date
What happens: The 40-week mark — the center of the range, not a deadline.
Why now: Only about 1 in 20 babies arrives on the day itself. Anything from 37 to 42 weeks counts as term, and most births land within two weeks of this date.
- Milestone Week 41
Late term begins
What happens: At 41 0/7 weeks your provider steps up monitoring — often non-stress tests and fluid checks — and discusses induction.
Why now: Risks rise slowly past 41 weeks and more clearly past 42, so plans are made for delivery by 42 0/7 weeks at the latest.
Why it matters
The logic behind the calendar
Prenatal care isn't a list of appointments so much as a set of windows. Some are windows of biology: NIPT needs enough placental DNA in your blood (about 10 weeks), the quad screen's math only works at 15–22 weeks, and a Tdap dose at 27–36 weeks is timed so your antibodies cross the placenta before birth. Some are windows of usefulness: an anatomy scan at 18–22 weeks is late enough to see everything and early enough to act on it, and a GBS swab at 36–37 weeks best predicts your status on delivery day.
The visit rhythm — every 4 weeks to 28, every 2 to 36, weekly to delivery — is built the same way. Each check is quick, but repeated blood-pressure and growth measurements are how conditions like preeclampsia get caught while they're still manageable. The schedule tightens exactly when the risks do.
That's why dates help. Windows like CVS (10–13 weeks) close fast, vaccines like RSV depend on where weeks 32–36 land against the season, and everything is easier to book with lead time. Put real dates on the calendar, and the whole third trimester stops being a surprise.
Read this if you're high-risk
When your schedule is different — and should be
This calendar is the routine template for a low-risk pregnancy. If you're carrying twins, have diabetes, high blood pressure, a thyroid or autoimmune condition, a history of preterm birth or preeclampsia, or your provider has flagged anything at all, your schedule will be different: more visits, extra ultrasounds, earlier screening, added monitoring. That's not a deviation from good care — it is good care.
Use this page to understand what each test and window is for, and to come to appointments with better questions. But wherever this calendar and your provider's plan disagree, your provider's plan wins — they're scheduling around your actual pregnancy, not the textbook one.
Related
Next steps and nearby tools
Due date calculator
Don't know your due date yet? Get it from your last period, conception, IVF transfer, or a scan.
Pregnancy week by week
What's developing each week between those appointments — sized, dated, and explained.
STI testing in pregnancy
The infection screens built into your first visit and third trimester, and why each protects your baby.
All pregnancy tools
The full suite of pregnancy calculators, checkers, and planners in one place.
Sources
Where this comes from
The visit cadence and every test window on this page follow published US guidance: ACOG's routine prenatal care and testing recommendations (first visit, visit rhythm, screening windows, GBS at 36–37 weeks), CDC recommendations for Tdap at 27–36 weeks in every pregnancy, and the CDC advisory committee's 2023 recommendation for the seasonal maternal RSV vaccine at 32–36 weeks. We apply their windows to your dates — we don't invent our own.
Medically Reviewed & Fact-Checked · Updated
Reviewed by EasySTD Editorial Team
Compiled and checked by EasySTD's editorial team against CDC and public-health sources. This is educational information, not a substitute for advice from a licensed clinician. Our editorial guidelines →
5 Sources
Data & references
- ACOG: Routine tests during pregnancy (first-visit labs, glucose screen, GBS)https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/routine-tests-during-pregnancy
- ACOG: Prenatal genetic screening tests (NIPT from 10 weeks, quad screen 15–22, CVS 10–13)https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/prenatal-genetic-screening-tests
- CDC: Vaccines during pregnancy (Tdap at 27–36 weeks, every pregnancy)https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pregnancy/index.html
- CDC MMWR: 2023 ACIP recommendation — maternal RSV vaccine at 32–36 weeks, seasonalhttps://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7241e1.htm
- ACOG Committee Opinion 797: Prevention of early-onset GBS disease (36 0/7–37 6/7-week swab)https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2020/02/prevention-of-group-b-streptococcal-early-onset-disease-in-newborns
EasySTD is an information and comparison directory, not a healthcare provider. This planner is general information based on ACOG and CDC guidance: it is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a care plan, and it does not create a doctor-patient relationship. Your provider sets your actual schedule.
Good to Know
Prenatal schedules: frequently asked questions
How often visits happen, which tests are optional, why vaccines repeat, starting care late, and whose plan wins.
How often are prenatal visits scheduled?
For a routine, low-risk pregnancy the standard rhythm is: a first visit at 8–10 weeks, then a visit about every 4 weeks until 28 weeks, every 2 weeks from 28 to 36 weeks, and weekly from 36 weeks until delivery — roughly 10 to 14 visits in all. Each one is short (blood pressure, urine, growth, heartbeat), but the repetition is the point: complications like preeclampsia show up as trends across visits, not at any single one. Higher-risk pregnancies are seen more often, on a plan your provider sets.
Which of these tests are optional and which are routine?
The first-visit lab panel, the glucose screen at 24–28 weeks, and the GBS swab at 36–37 weeks are standard of care — routinely done for everyone. NIPT and the quad screen are optional screening tests: they're offered to everyone, but whether to have them is your choice. CVS (and amniocentesis after 15 weeks) are diagnostic tests offered when a screening result, your age, or family history raises a specific question. Tdap is recommended in every pregnancy, and the RSV vaccine seasonally. You can decline anything — the useful move is deciding early, because some windows, like CVS at 10–13 weeks, close fast.
Why do I need a Tdap shot in every pregnancy?
Because the point isn't protecting you — it's loading the baby with antibodies before birth. Whooping cough (pertussis) is most dangerous in the first months of life, before an infant's own vaccine series starts at 2 months. The antibodies you make after a Tdap dose cross the placenta, but they wane within a couple of years, so the CDC recommends a fresh dose between 27 and 36 weeks of every pregnancy, regardless of when you last had one — and earlier in that window is preferred, to maximize what transfers before delivery.
What is the maternal RSV vaccine and do I need it?
RSV is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the US, and in 2023 the CDC's advisory committee (ACIP) recommended a one-dose maternal RSV vaccine given at 32–36 weeks — but only when that window falls during RSV season, roughly September through January in most of the continental US. Your antibodies cross the placenta and protect the baby through their riskiest first months. If you deliver outside the season or skip the vaccine, the baby can get an antibody injection (nirsevimab) after birth instead; most babies need one form of protection or the other, not both.
I'm starting prenatal care late — is this schedule ruined?
No. The schedule is a template, not a pass/fail exam, and providers compress it for late starters all the time. Whenever you begin, the first visit does the same job: dating, baseline labs, and infection screening. Some windows may already have passed — CVS closes at 13 weeks and the quad screen at 22 — but each has a later alternative (amniocentesis, ultrasound, NIPT has no deadline), and the highest-value items like the glucose screen, Tdap, and the GBS swab are almost always still ahead of you. The only wrong move is waiting longer: call now and take the earliest slot.
Is what I enter private, and does this replace my provider's plan?
Private, yes: this planner runs entirely in your browser. The dates you enter are never sent to a server, stored, or shared — close the tab and everything is gone. We treat reproductive data as sensitive by default. And no, it doesn't replace your provider's plan: this is the routine schedule for a low-risk pregnancy. Twins, chronic conditions, prior complications, or anything your provider flags means a different, closer schedule — wherever this calendar and your provider's plan differ, your provider's plan wins.
Have a different question? Browse the full pregnancy FAQ library, every question we answer, in one place.