Prenatal Care in Georgia

So you decided to spend your pregnancy and give birth in Tbilisi? Welcome to the unofficial club of mothers in Georgia! Please leave your swords at the entrance and grab your bowl of wine, because the experience of getting prenatal care in Tbilisi can vary.

Let’s start with two simple questions: 1) Are you a citizen of Georgia? 2) Do you have Georgian insurance, and if yes, which one?

Citizens of Georgia get four free screenings (week 12, 18-20, 30-32 and 34-38). It covers basic blood tests (general, hepatitis, HIV, syphilis), ultrasound of the second trimester, urine tests, and smear analysis. More advanced tests are performed by commercial labs separately if needed.

As for the insurance - I have a basic package from GPI company that doesn’t include pregnancy. I was unable to upgrade - one has to add the pregnancy option months before it even happens, so alas, a lot of things had to be covered from my pocket.

A side note: I am a patient of Medical House (Georgian-Americal Clinic) for years because of my gynecologist Shorena Gogokhia. The prices of this clinic are slightly higher than average (I had to deal with Curatio, Aversi, Pineo, Gudushauri and Gagua Clinic, so I can compare). For example, a visit to a doctor or an ultrasound without the prescription of the GP is not covered by the insurance and costs 60 GEL (a bit less than $20).

So after discovering that I was expecting on week 6 and having it approved by ultrasound on week 8, I promised my gynecologist to come back at week 12 for the final ultrasound of the first trimester but had to come a couple of days earlier because of unpleasant emergency that changed the course of my pregnancy till the end.

Also, my gynecologist offered me to take one of two tests from those that can show if the fetus has some genetic diseases. So-called double marker test costs around 200 GEL, and the Harmony test which shows many more things including gender costs around 2000 GEL. Both are performed abroad - EU Lab sends them to Stuttgart. I went for the double marker one, and it showed that everything was fine.

If you are interested in Non-Invasive Prenatal Tests like Harmony, Synevo has some, and EU-Lab can do one too. Those tests are not obligatory so the choice is yours.

By the way, if you are well-off, and want to have everything done smoothly, consider buying a pregnancy package from American Medical Centers. $1200, but full comfort. Genetic tests are included.

Week 24 will “please” you with a glucose tolerance test - you’ll have your blood taken on an empty stomach, then have a (quite disgusting) glucose drink, and then have your blood taken in two hours. This is done to prevent a nasty thing called gestational diabetes. My level was a bit high, so I had to revise my diet and monitor my blood sugar level for several weeks. For this, I had a little tool - but again, buying one is unnecessary, you can stick to eating well first of all.

During weeks 35-36 you should be tested for Group B strep (if you’ll test positive, the doctor can offer you antibiotics during the labour - however, I know the case when a woman that was giving birth refused). The last weeks of pregnancy might also require a cardiotocograph taken - you’ll be listening to your baby’s heartbeat for half an hour and the doctor will estimate how well they feel.

So far, those are the main things to expect. Some women decide not to do all the screenings, some prefer to have check-ups regularly. I belonged to the second group because of placenta previa. The cost of everything depends on your clinic and insurance. Roughly counting, I spent about 1000 GEL ($300) on all the tests and check-ups, excluding prenatal vitamins.

Wish you a smooth pregnancy and no unnecessary screenings!