About a quarter of mothers did not receive prenatal care in their first trimesters, according to a new March of Dimes report. Fenton Roman/iStockphoto/Getty Images

Some women rush to their doctor just days after getting a positive pregnant test, but Dr. L. Joy Baker said she often sees patients for the first time just weeks or even days before they give birth.

“At least once week,” a woman may start prenatal care well into their second or third trimester of pregnancy, said Baker, an obstetrician-gynecologist based in LaGrange, Georgia.

“I accept patients up until delivery, and sometimes there are patients that we have not seen at all, and they are in their third trimester, or they’re even 39 weeks,” Baker said. “I’ve done initial prenatal visits at 39 weeks and the patient delivered a

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