Some women rush to their doctor just days after getting a positive pregnancy 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 a 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 week later.”

Starting prenatal care after the first trimester of pregnancy appears to be a growing yet dangerous trend in the United States, according to a new r

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