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If your doctor has informed you, of your high-risk pregnancy – or you could have one if you are trying to have children — the news can be frightening. It’s important to follow all the medical advice your doctor gives you and to take care of yourself. Being informed is essential. In this article we will explore some basic questions and points of high-risk pregnancy.
In This Post:
Prior Health Risks and Existing Conditions
If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, kidney, thyroid, or autoimmune disease, AIDS/HIV, are obese, or have taken certain drugs intended to enhance fertility, you are likely to have a high-risk pregnancy.
The age at which you get pregnant is also a factor: if you are a teenage mother, or are a woman over the age of 35 with a first-time pregnancy, you may experience complications while pregnant. For teens, this means the possibility of developing anemia or high blood pressure. For older mothers, prolonged labor, excessive bleeding, the possibility of having a baby with a genetic disorder, or a mandated birth by C-section are all potential scenarios.
Habits and Lifestyle
Smoking while pregnant places significant risk on the infant, such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, (SIDS) birth defects, and early birth. Alcohol can have a highly damaging impact on the fetus, such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, genetic disorders, or outright death of the fetus or baby. Cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol are some of the few preventable causes of a high-risk pregnancy and should not be consumed while pregnant nor while trying to become pregnant.
Conditions Developed While Pregnant
Multiple gestation (for example, being pregnant with triplets) increases the risk for giving birth prematurely, which can lead to severe complications. Gestational diabetes, developed when a woman is pregnant, increases the chance of early labor and high blood pressure in the mother. Finally, preeclampsia, which is a dramatic increase in the pregnant woman’s blood pressure, can occur suddenly, causing liver, kidney, or brain problems. Eclampsia is the more severe version of preeclampsia, which can cause a coma or even seizures.
How to Protect Mother and Child
If you’re not yet pregnant, schedule a preconception appointment to discuss risks and how to manage them. If pregnant, ensuring that you eat a healthy diet that is in line with the requirements of prenatal care is essential. Do not drink alcohol, smoke, or take any drugs. Ask your doctor if certain prescription medications should be stopped. Be sure to monitor your weight — gaining too much or too little in a high-risk pregnancy can be dangerous. Fetal evaluations through ultrasounds may be performed by your doctor or a maternal-fetal specialist like Dr Gilbert Webb.
Tests
Specialized ultrasounds, Amniocentesis, (where a sample of the fluid in the amniotic sack) is taken and analyzed) measurements of the length of your cervix, Cordocentesis, (which analyzes the blood of the fetus through a sample taken out of the umbilical cord) and other tests may be performed.
If you experience any troubling circumstances while pregnant, such as excessive bleeding, extreme pain, changes in vision, or headaches, contact your doctor immediately as this may mean that there are complication with your pregnancy.
Many women who have been told they have a high-risk pregnancy successfully give birth to healthy children. While high-risk pregnancies can take both a physical and an emotional toll on the mother, (and often, her partner as well) frequent visits with a doctor, proper prenatal care, and occasional tests to examine the development of the fetus, are all steps that should be taken to ensure that the baby and its mother will have the best chance for a successful delivery.