Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffIt's a good idea to be well prepared for your appointment with your obstetrician. Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment, and what to expect from your doctor.
What you can do
- Write down any symptoms you're experiencing, even if you think they're normal pregnancy symptoms.
- Make a list of all medications, vitamins and supplements that you're taking.
- Take a family member or friend along, if possible. Sometimes it can be difficult to soak up all the information provided to you during an appointment. Someone who accompanies you may remember something that you missed or forgot.
- Write down questions to ask your doctor. Preparing a list of questions will help you make the most of your time with your doctor. List your questions from most important to least important.
For cholestasis of pregnancy, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
- What is likely causing my symptoms?
- Is my condition mild or severe?
- Is it safe to continue the pregnancy?
- What is the best course of action?
- What kinds of tests do I need?
- What are the alternatives to the primary approach that you're suggesting?
- Are there any restrictions that I need to follow?
- Will it be necessary to induce early labor?
- Do you have any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me? What Web sites do you recommend visiting?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared, don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment at any time that you don't understand something.
- Bacq Y. Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 21, 2009.
- Geenes V, et al. Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. World Journal of Gastroenterology. 2009;15:2049.
- Liver disorders in pregnancy. March of Dimes. http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_14543.asp. Accessed Aug. 24, 2009.
- Riely CA, et al. Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. Clinics in Liver Disease. 2004;8:167.
- Skin conditions during pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp169.cfm. Accessed Aug. 24, 2009.
- Cappell MS. Hepatic and gastrointestinal diseases. In: Gabbe SG, et al. Obstetrics: Normal and Problem Pregnancies. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/156403804-2/0/1528/432.html?tocnode=57028110&fromURL=432.html. Accessed Aug. 24, 2009.
- Burrows R, et al. Interventions for treating cholestasis in pregnancy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2009:CD000493.
- SAMe. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. http://www.naturaldatabase.com. Accessed Sept. 9, 2009.
