ⓘ marks a fact that changes often - a price, a deadline, an office rule. Check it with the office before you rely on it.
Tuesday, 7:20, week twenty-eight. The waiting room of MUDr. Holubová in Praha 4 smells of disinfectant and someone's coffee, and five women sit in a silent row, each holding a folded blue-grey booklet and a small plastic tube of morning urine wrapped discreetly in a tissue. Marina has learnt the choreography by now: tube to the nurse, onto the scales, arm into the cuff, then wait for her name. What she has not learnt is the language on the other side of the door, where a sentence like „přijďte nalačno, pošlu vás na cukr“ can arrive at speed and with no explanation attached.
Czech prenatal care runs on a steady beat. The poradna sees you every four to six weeks until week 36, then every week, and after the due date the porodnice takes over with a monitor every two or three days. Around that beat sit the screenings: the first-trimester one you may pay for yourself, the big ultrasounds at 20-22 and 30-32 weeks, the sugar test between 24 and 28, the swab at 35-37. Everything ends up as abbreviations and numbers in the průkazka, written in a hand only pharmacists can read.
This lesson gives you the words for every station of the visit, the names and timing of the screenings, a page of results read line by line, the questions worth asking every time, and what happens when your doctor says rizikové těhotenství and reaches for the neschopenka.
Not a separate building but the hours and routine of your own gynekolog's practice when it sees pregnant patients; some practices keep separate mornings for them. At the office, though, you rarely hear „jdu do poradny“ on its own: people say „jdu na kontrolu“, at most „na kontrolu do poradny“. Book the next one before you leave the room.
Ve čtvrtek ráno nebudu v kanceláři, jdu na kontrolu do poradny.
I won't be in the office on Thursday morning, I have my prenatal check-up.
The word on every morning blood draw and on the sugar test: nothing to eat from midnight, water only, and no sweet tea, juice or chewing gum either. For the routine odběry from lesson 01 a slip means a repeat; for the oGTT it is worse, because one biscuit makes the result worthless and you come back another day. Take your breakfast with you and eat it in the corridor afterwards, as half the waiting room does.
Na odběry přijďte v pondělí v sedm, nalačno, a nezapomeňte žádanku.
Come for the blood tests on Monday at seven, fasting, and don't forget the request form.
Measured at every visit, often by the nurse before you see the doctor, and written as TK 120/80. Czechs read it aloud as „sto dvacet na osmdesát“. From 140/90 upwards your doctor sees you more often; if protein in the urine, a headache or flickering before the eyes come with it, she sends you to the porodnice the same day.
Tlak máte sto dvacet pět na osmdesát, to je úplně v pořádku.
Your blood pressure is a hundred and twenty-five over eighty, that's perfectly fine.
You bring it to every single visit: morning urine in a small tube or cup from any lékárna, a few crowns. The nurse dips a test strip into it and writes protein and sugar into the průkazka, often as „B neg, C neg“ ⓘ. Forget it and you will be handed a cup and pointed to the toilet, which works too.
Zkumavku s močí nechte na pultu u sestřičky a posaďte se.
Leave the urine tube on the nurse's counter and take a seat.
Listened to with a small Doppler at the check-ups in the second half of pregnancy and noted as „OP+“ or simply a tick ⓘ. The moment the doctor says „ozvy jsou v pořádku“ is the best ten seconds of the visit. Plod is the medical word for the baby in the womb; at home say miminko.
Slyšíte to? Ozvy jsou krásné, sto čtyřicet za minutu.
Can you hear that? The heartbeat is lovely, a hundred and forty a minute.
Public insurance covers the detailed morphology scan at 20-22 weeks and a growth check at 30-32; the 11-14-week NT scan of the combined screening is usually paid by you, with a contribution from your insurer's prevention fund ⓘ. Many practices also offer a quick scan at every visit or a 3D/4D session for a fee. The 20-22-week scan is often done by a specialist elsewhere, so ask early where and whether you need to book it yourself.
Na morfologický ultrazvuk vás objednám do nemocnice, budete tam asi hodinu.
I'll book you into the hospital for the anomaly scan; it takes about an hour.
An ultrasound of the nuchal fold (NT) plus a blood test, done around week 11-14 and turned into a risk figure such as „1:2500“. In Prague in 2026 you usually pay it at the clinic, roughly 1 500-3 000 Kč, and claim part of it back from your insurer with the receipt ⓘ. The bigger the number after the colon, the better: 1:2500 is reassuring, 1:150 means you will be offered further tests.
Screening vyšel dobře, riziko je jedna ku třem tisícům.
The screening came out well, the risk is one in three thousand.
Between weeks 24 and 28 you arrive fasting, give blood, drink 75 g of glucose dissolved in water within five minutes, then sit still in the lab for two hours with blood drawn at 60 and 120 minutes. No walking around, no snacks, no smoking. Bring a book. Everyone calls it simply „cukr“, so „pošlu vás na cukr“ means this, not a diagnosis.
Na cukr jdu ve středu, dvě hodiny tam budu sedět o hladu.
I'm doing the sugar test on Wednesday; two hours of sitting there hungry.
The phrase you want to hear about every result, and the question you should ask when the doctor writes numbers without comment: „Je to v normě?“ Czech doctors rarely volunteer an interpretation. If the answer is „hraniční“ (borderline), follow up with „Co to pro mě znamená?“
Krevní obraz je v normě, jen hemoglobin je trochu nízký.
Your blood count is normal, only the haemoglobin is a little low.
A quick swab from the vagina and rectum in weeks 35-37. Many healthy women carry the bacterium; a positive result just means antibiotics into a vein once labour starts, to protect the baby. The result goes into the průkazka, and the porodnice will look for it the moment you arrive.
Stěr na GBS vám udělám dnes, výsledek bude za pár dní.
I'll do the group B strep swab today; the result will be back in a few days.
Medically it means a pregnancy that needs closer watching: high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, bleeding, twins. Socially it has a second life: „jsem na rizikovém“ is how Czech women say they are signed off work while pregnant, and it is common enough that colleagues barely blink. There is no special form; it is an ordinary neschopenka with a pregnancy diagnosis.
Od pondělí jsem na rizikovém, takže projekt předám kolegovi.
I'm signed off from Monday because of the pregnancy, so I'll hand the project to a colleague.
Since 2020 it is electronic, the eNeschopenka: the doctor sends it to ČSSZ, ČSSZ tells your employer, and you get a printed slip for yourself that lists your allowed hours out of the house, the „vycházky“. Still tell HR yourself. The diagnosis is not shared with the employer, only the dates.
Neschopenku vám pošlu elektronicky, vycházky máte od dvou do šesti.
I'll send the sick note electronically; you're allowed out from two to six.
The money, not the leave. For the first 14 days of a neschopenka your employer pays „náhrada mzdy“, 60 % of your reduced average earnings; from day 15 ČSSZ pays nemocenská, 60 % of the reduced daily base, rising to 66 % from day 31 and 72 % from day 61 ⓘ. Above a certain salary the reduction bites hard, so expect noticeably less than your net pay.
Nemocenská chodí z ČSSZ přímo na účet, ale první dva týdny platí firma.
The sickness benefit comes from ČSSZ straight to your account, but the first two weeks are paid by the company.
MUDr. Holubová's ordinace in Praha 4, a Tuesday morning. Marina did the glucose test last week at an outside laboratory and has come for the results, expecting a ten-minute routine visit before work.
Dr Holubová
Dobrý den, paní Kuznetsová, pojďte dál. Průkazku mi dejte sem. Tak jak se máme?
Good morning, Mrs Kuznetsová, come in. Give me the booklet. So, how are we doing?
„Jak se máme?“ in the first person plural is the classic Czech doctor's question, warm rather than patronising. The průkazka goes to the doctor at every visit; she writes in it while you talk.
Marina
Dobrý den, paní doktorko. Docela dobře, jen mi večer trochu otékají kotníky.
Good morning, doctor. Quite well, only my ankles swell a little in the evening.
Say your symptoms in the first answer; Czech doctors will not dig for them. „Otékají mi kotníky“ (dative) and „bolí mě hlava“ (accusative) are the set patterns: the person goes into a case and the body part is the subject, so not „moje hlava bolí“, which sounds like a phrasebook. A headache that will not go or flickering before the eyes is never a by-the-way remark: say it first.
Dr Holubová
Hm. Tlak máte sto čtyřicet na devadesát. Moč je čistá, bílkovina negativní, ale ten tlak se mi nelíbí.
Hm. Your blood pressure is a hundred and forty over ninety. Your urine is clear, no protein, but I don't like that pressure.
A new reading of 140/90 after week 20, with no protein in the urine and no symptoms, is mild gestational hypertension. It is watched closely because it can turn into pre-eclampsia. Had there been protein on the strip, a headache or flickering before the eyes as well, Dr Holubová would not be talking about the next visit: she would send Marina to the porodnice today. „Negativní“ on the strip means nothing was found.
Marina
Je to vážné? Minule jsem měla sto dvacet na osmdesát.
Is it serious? Last time I had a hundred and twenty over eighty.
„Je to vážné?“ is the shortest honest question in Czech medicine. Comparing with last time („minule“) is useful: the old values are in the průkazka and the doctor will look.
Dr Holubová
Teď ne, ale v těhotenství se tlak umí rychle zhoršit, tak ho budeme hlídat. A přišly výsledky z cukru. Nalačno máte v normě, ale po hodině deset celá tři.
Not right now, but in pregnancy blood pressure can get worse quickly, so we'll keep a close eye on it. And the sugar results have come. Fasting is normal, but after one hour it's ten point three.
Czech practice uses the international thresholds for the 75 g test: fasting 5.1, one hour 10.0, two hours 8.5 mmol/l; one value at or above its limit is enough for gestational diabetes ⓘ. Decimals are read „celá“: deset celá tři = 10.3.
Marina
Takže mám cukrovku? Vždyť já skoro nejím sladké.
So I have diabetes? But I hardly eat anything sweet.
„Cukrovka“ is the everyday word for diabetes. „Vždyť“ adds the indignant „but surely“; it is exactly the right tone here and doctors hear it daily.
Dr Holubová
Těhotenskou cukrovku. Se sladkostmi to moc nesouvisí, dělá to placenta. Dám vám žádanku do diabetologické poradny, tam dostanete dietu a glukometr.
Gestational diabetes. It has little to do with sweets; it's the placenta. I'll give you a referral to the diabetes clinic, where you'll get a diet and a glucose meter.
Here the word poradna appears again, this time for a diabetes clinic, usually at a hospital. You will measure your sugar at home several times a day and bring the numbers; most women manage on diet alone. The appointment is often weeks out, so ring the same day.
Marina
Dobře. A můžu dál chodit do práce? Máme teď v kanceláři uzávěrku.
All right. And can I keep going to work? We have a deadline at the office right now.
„Uzávěrka“ is the Czech office word for a deadline or closing period; Czechs also say „deadline“ in IT. Asking this directly is right: the doctor decides, and you want to hear it from her, not guess.
Dr Holubová
S tímhle tlakem a s cukrovkou vás chci mít doma v klidu. Napíšu vám neschopenku, rizikové těhotenství. Uzávěrku zvládnou i bez vás.
With this blood pressure and the diabetes I want you at home, resting. I'll write you a sick note, high-risk pregnancy. They'll manage the deadline without you.
The neschopenka goes electronically to ČSSZ and from there to the employer the same or next day. Some foreign women hesitate, afraid it looks bad at work; in Czechia it does not, and a pregnant employee on sick leave cannot be dismissed for it.
Marina
A co peníze? Budu dostávat celý plat?
And what about money? Will I get my full salary?
Fair question, short form. „Plat“ is the salary; „mzda“ is the legal word you will see on payslips, and „výplata“ is the payday itself.
Dr Holubová
Celý ne. Prvních čtrnáct dní vám platí náhradu firma, pak nemocenskou ČSSZ. Vycházky vám dám odpoledne, ať se můžete projít.
Not the full one. For the first fourteen days the company pays compensation, then ČSSZ pays sickness benefit. I'll give you your outing hours in the afternoon so you can go for a walk.
Vycházky are set by the doctor, typically up to six hours a day between 7:00 and 19:00 ⓘ. ČSSZ does check: an inspector may ring your doorbell outside those hours, so make sure your name is on the bell and the intercom works. If you are not found at home, the benefit can be cut.
Marina
Rozumím. A kdy mám přijít příště?
I understand. And when should I come next?
Always leave with the next date written in the průkazka. „Kdy mám přijít příště?“ is the whole sentence you need.
Dr Holubová
Za týden, ne za čtyři, a krev vám vezmu ještě dnes. Doma si měřte tlak ráno a večer a pište si ho. Kdyby byl sto padesát na sto nebo víc, kdyby vás rozbolela hlava nebo se vám dělaly mžitky před očima, jeďte rovnou do porodnice, nečekejte na kontrolu.
In one week, not four, and I'll take blood today. Measure your blood pressure at home morning and evening and write it down. If it reaches a hundred and fifty over a hundred, if you get a headache or see spots before your eyes, go straight to the maternity hospital; don't wait for your check-up.
„Mžitky před očima“, flickering spots, is the warning phrase worth memorising. These signs, like a headache that will not pass, sudden swelling of the face and hands or pain under the right ribs, can mean pre-eclampsia, and they send you to the porodnice the same day, not to the next check-up ⓘ. Today's blood test looks at the platelets and the liver. In the third trimester the porodnice, not the emergency department, is the right door, day or night; take the průkazka, and call 155 if you cannot get there yourself.
Těhotenská průkazka: check-up record and laboratory entries
After the first pages come the working pages: a table with one row per visit, and boxes or glued-in printouts for laboratory results. Printed layouts differ between editions and practices, and much is handwritten in abbreviations, so the labels below are the ones you will most often meet ⓘ. Photograph each new page on your phone; if the booklet is lost on the way to the porodnice, the photos save the day.
| Týden těhotenství (t.t.) | week of pregnancy | Written as 28+3: 28 full weeks and 3 days, counted from the last period, not from conception. Every screening window in this lesson is measured in this unit, so check it against your own count; a wrong week means a wrongly timed test. |
| Hmotnost (kg) | weight | Weighed at every visit, usually by the nurse. Czech doctors comment on weight with disarming directness („přibrala jste čtyři kila za měsíc“); it is not meant as an insult. A sudden jump can be water, which is why it is read together with blood pressure and swelling. |
| TK | blood pressure (tlak krve) | Two numbers, the upper and lower value, in mmHg. Look down the column rather than at one row: a steady 115/75 that climbs to 135/88 over three visits matters even below 140/90. If you measure at home, bring your own log and ask for it to be noted. |
| Moč: B / C (bílkovina, cukr) | urine: protein / sugar | Usually „neg“ or a dash for nothing found; „stopa“ for a trace; then +, ++, +++ ⓘ. Sugar in the urine once is common in pregnancy; protein together with rising blood pressure is the combination that sends you to the porodnice the same day for a check. |
| Otoky | swelling (oedema) | Often a simple 0 or + ⓘ. Evening ankles after a day at a desk are expected; swelling of the face and hands, or legs that stay puffy in the morning, should be mentioned out loud, because nobody will ask in detail; with a headache or flickering before the eyes on top, do not wait for the visit: go to the porodnice. |
| Ozvy plodu (OP) | fetal heart sounds | Written as „OP+“, „AS+“ (akce srdeční) or a rate such as 140/min ⓘ. A plus simply means the heart was heard. Later in pregnancy you may also see the baby's position: „hlavička“ (head down) or „KP“ (koncem pánevním, breech) ⓘ. |
| KO: Hb | blood count: haemoglobin | KO is krevní obraz, the full blood count; Hb is haemoglobin in grams per litre, so 118 means 11.8 g/dl. In pregnancy values from about 110 up are considered acceptable; below that you will usually leave with an iron prescription and the instruction to take it away from tea and coffee. |
| oGTT (0 - 60 - 120 min) | glucose tolerance test values | Three numbers in mmol/l, for example 4.6 - 7.8 - 6.2. Compare each with its own limit: 5.1 fasting, 10.0 at one hour, 8.5 at two hours ⓘ. One value on or over its limit is enough for the diagnosis, so a „good average“ does not help. Czech decimals use a comma: 4,6. |
| GBS | group B strep swab result | „neg“ or „poz“, with the date. Make sure it is written in the průkazka before week 37 ends; if the result is missing when you arrive in labour, the porodnice may treat you as positive and give antibiotics anyway. |
First, the waiting room. A Czech čekárna is quiet, and the order is not the order of arrival: those with a booked time („objednaní“) go in by the clock, and the nurse calls names through a half-open door. Say „Dobrý den“ to the room when you enter, sit down, and do not knock. If an hour passes, ask the nurse once, politely, „Nevíte, jak dlouho to ještě potrvá?“ Partners usually wait outside or in the corridor; for the bigger ultrasounds many doctors will invite Dima in if you ask.
Second, information is something you ask for. Your doctor is likely excellent and almost certainly brief. She will write „KO v normě, oGTT neg“ in your průkazka and look up for the next thing. That is not coldness, it is the system: one gynaecologist, many patients, short slots. So come with your questions on paper, three at most, and ask them before she stands up. „Je to v normě?“, „Co bude příště?“ and „Musím se někam objednat sama?“ cover most of it.
Third, money. Basic prenatal care is covered, but the reception desk may offer extras: a short ultrasound at every visit, a 3D session, the first-trimester screening, a NIPT blood test for several thousand crowns ⓘ. Some practices also ask for a yearly fee for „nadstandardní služby“ such as email or a booking app; you may say no to what you do not want ⓘ. Keep every receipt; insurers run prevention funds that refund part of some pregnancy costs ⓘ.
Finally, „rizikové“. Czech culture treats a pregnancy sick note as unremarkable, and older colleagues may even ask when you are „going on rizikové“, as if it were a stage of pregnancy. It is a medical decision, though, not a perk, and the ČSSZ inspector with a clipboard is real. Being at home when you are supposed to be is the whole job, and paní Věra next door will gladly bring you soup.
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Dr Holubová says: „Příště přijďte nalačno, pošlu vás na cukr.“ What is she asking?
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