by KYW's medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough

I am always stressing the point that if you are pregnant or considering becoming pregnant to get to an obstetrician for regular care and follow up as soon as you can.

There are numerous reasons: the simplest and most common is that your doctor can answer dozens of questions you might have. In addition you can also start taking appropriate vitamins that help the unborn baby and be routinely monitored for conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes which can harm the unborn baby.

Another key issue is to avoid some of the potential situations that can lead to prematurity.

A report out of Norway in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that kids born prematurely face more developmental issues than kids who were born at full term.  In fact,   the most premature also had a 78 times greater risk for cerebral palsy and a 10 times higher risk for mental retardation.