Hi, I worked in L&D in a hospital for 30yrs. If someone in their 3rd trimester, who claims to have had periods throughout the pregnancy, who claims to not have known she was pregnant, had no prenatal care was to seek out a family practice dr or a nurse midwife they would refer that patient to an ob/gyn. An ob/gyn is the appropriate kind of dr to do a detailed ultrasound to determine the estimated due date based on fetal growth (femur length, weight). Very few family practice docs or midwives would take that on. The delaying of prenatal care is also a red flag for other problems of the "social" kind. Where I worked it was pretty much an automatic drug screen on mom and a meconium drug test on baby at birth, depending on just how late care began. Meconium drug testing on baby can detect the exposure to drugs for a longer time that they can be detected in the mother. Does anyone know how many weeks they thought she was when diagnosed? I just can't see any provider other than an ob/gyn willing to risk the repercussions over mis-calculating a due date and delivering a premature baby. Laws may vary from state to state but most hospitals conform to standards set by JCAH.
