3rd Trimester Tests.

If you are like most women, your pregnancy progresses normally and you are in good health in your 3rd trimester. At each prenatal visit, your doctor checks your weight and blood pressure and performs a urinalysis. Checking your blood pressure and urine are important during the last trimester to help detect pre-eclampsia, a condition more common in first-time pregnancies and in older pregnant women. 

In this last trimester, your physician may do an internal examination to see whether your cervix has begun to thin and dilate, to evaluate the size of your pelvis and to see if your baby is in the headdown position. You will usually have this examination in the last few weeks of pregnancy. It cannot predict when you will go into labor.

Other tests may be ordered if your baby is postterm (overdue), your pregnancy is considered high risk or your physician believes your baby might have a problem. Possible tests include a nonstress test (NST), stress test (CST, contraction stress test), ultrasound and a biophysical profile. These tests help determine the well-being of mother and baby, or the kind of problem you or your baby may be experiencing.