High Risk Pregnancy
Hypertension means high BP. High BP which develops during the pregnancy is called pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH). Some women have high BP prior to conceiving, this is called chronic hypertension. Women with chronic hypertension may already be on drugs while conceiving and may develop a superimposed PIH later during their pregnancies.
About 1 in 10 pregnant women has problems with high blood pressure.
About 1 in 20 pregnant women has pre-existing high blood pressure.
If you are pregnant you should have regular blood pressure checks. Most women will not develop any problems with their blood pressure during pregnancy. However, in some women, high blood pressure can develop. It is often mild and not serious. But in some cases, high blood pressure can become severe and can be harmful to both the mother and baby.
Some women can develop new high blood pressure during their pregnancy. This is called pregnancy-induced high blood pressure (or hypertension) or gestational high blood pressure (or hypertension).
Gestational high blood pressure is high blood pressure that develops for the first time after 5 months of pregnancy. Women with a family history of hypertension or history of PIH in previous pregnancies have a higher incidence of developing it. Also women who are overweight or obese prior to pregnancy and women who tend to gain too much weight during pregnancy are at high risk of developing PIH.
Women having high blood pressure prior to conceiving or if a high BP is recorded prior to 5th month of pregnancy, fall in the category of chronic hypertension. These women have a risk of developing superimposed PIH and thereby hold a higher risk compared to women with only PIH. A team work of gynecologists and physicians is needed to manage such patients.
Complications are rare if hypertension is picked up at the right time and treated correctly. However if neglected, hypertension in pregnancy can cause problems like
Maternal: In well controlled cases maternal complication are rare however in neglected cases it can lead to maternal convulsion and multi organ damage. These complications are seen in women who do not receive adequate antenatal care during their pregnancy. We hardly come across these complications in our practice.
Fetal: Abortion, preterm delivery, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), Low birth weight babies and even intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) in severe cases. All these problems can be avoided if treatment is taken at the right time.
Neonatal: Need for NICU care, Multiple investigations, Problems of prematurity and rarely neonatal death.
There are some symptoms that you should look out for that could be signs of uncontrolled BP. If you develop any of these, you should see your doctor urgently so that they can check your blood pressure and do other investigation. They include:
Pregnant women who have high blood sugar (glucose) levels during pregnancy, but did not have diabetes before pregnancy are said to have gestational diabetes (GDM). The abnormally high blood sugar appears to be caused by hormones produced by the placenta that block the action of the mother’s own insulin. Because insulin is required for sugar to enter cells, the sugar rises in her blood. Gestational diabetes usually develops in the second trimester as the placenta is getting larger. If your diabetes was diagnosed in the first half of your pregnancy, it’s possible you had diabetes even before you conceived.
Following women have high risk of diabetes:
If you are at risk for developing GDM certain tests will be performed. You will need to give your fasting blood sugar followed by a glucose syrup drink. After an hour your blood is tested for excessive sugar (1 hour oral glucose tolerance test). If the sugar level is too high ( > 140 mg/dl ) you will need to take an additional three-hour test . From 3% to 12% of all pregnancies are diagnosed with diabetes.
Women who are diabetic even when they are not pregnant are called pregestational diabetics. In pregestational diabetics fasting blood sugars persistently greater than 120 mg/dl in early pregnancy can cause miscarriage and birth defects. Mothers who are diabetic only when they are pregnant (GDM) do not have higher rates of birth defects, but may have a higher chance for a stillbirth if their sugars are not controlled well.
Later in pregnancy the excessive sugar in either type of diabetic crosses the placenta to the baby. The consequences are the baby grows, and grows, and grows. As the baby’s size increases its risk for birth injuries with a vaginal delivery increases. These injuries may include a fractured collar bone, a fractured arm, or paralysis of the upper arm. Fortunately, these conditions are usually temporary. Very rarely, an infant may be so large it fails to deliver in a timely manner and suffers brain damage from prolonged lack of oxygen. If your baby is too large for you to safely attempt a vaginal delivery, a cesarean delivery is the best option.
Babies born to mothers with poorly controlled diabetes are also at higher risk for low blood sugar , jaundice, polycythemia ( high numbers of red blood cells) , low calcium levels, and an increased risk for fetal death during the last months of pregnancy. Lastly uncontrolled diabetes places the mother at risk for developing polyhydramnios (excessive amniotic fluid) and pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure with protein in the urine). Also there is a high risk of developing infections during pregnancy and wound infection after delivery.
The first step in treatment is usually a change in diet. If you are diagnosed with GDM you may initially be instructed to:
In addition a minimum of three episodes of exercise per week is also recommended. The sugar lowering effect of exercise may not be seen for 2 to 4 weeks.
If diet and exercise don’t keep blood sugar controlled, then you will likely be prescribed insulin. If your blood sugar is only mildly elevated you may be offered an oral medication called metformin or glyburide. Approximately 15% to 20% of women with gestational diabetes will require insulin therapy. The major side effect of these medications is possible low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
Most women diagnosed with gestational diabetes may expect their blood sugars to return to normal after they have delivered. Whether a woman develops diabetes later in life seems to be predicted to some degree by her fasting blood sugar levels. If her fasting glucose levels during pregnancy are 105 to 130 mg/dl, 50% of mothers may be expected to become diabetic after pregnancy. 86 % of women with fasting blood sugars greater than 130 mg/dl may be expected to become diabetic.
It is recommended that women with gestational diabetes be retested for diabetes six weeks after delivery. It is important that this follow up be done, so that women with diabetes may be effectively treated to avoid the harmful effects of neglected diabetes on the mother’s health and her future pregnancies.
Twin or multiple pregnancies(triplets or quadruplets) are common especially when you are pregnant after treatment with ovulation induction, IUI, Or IVF centre in Mumbai. Journey through a twin pregnancy can be challenging. Multiple pregnancies account for one in every 80 pregnancies conceived naturally. With fertility treatment, the incidence of multiple pregnancies increases to one in every four pregnancies resulting from treatment.
To start with if one has more than two fetus in the womb, there is an option wherein the pregnancy can be reduced to two by a procedure called embryo reduction. This procedure is done by fetal medicine experts. It is an invasive procedure with its own risks and complications; you may discuss the options with your Obstetrician. This is mainly done because it is difficult to carry more than two fetus till full 9 months and there are very high chance of complications, like fetal and neonatal deaths, increased maternal problems like high BP, anemia, Blood loss, to name a few.
This is usually diagnosed when you attend for your dating scan between 7 and 8 week. Early diagnosis is also possible if your obstetrician is monitoring your blood beta-HcG levels and the values more than double in consequent readings.
A good and regular (3-4weekly) follow is utmost important in women with twin pregnancy. This not only helps to monitor the growth of the babies, but also enables to pick up early complications and therefore helps in management.
Ultrasonography are done as in normal pregnancy i.e. at 11-12 weeks, at 20 weeks, at 32-34 weeks. Additional sonography may be advised if the obstetrician suspects some abnormalities. A Doppler sonography wherein the blood flow to the babies is evaluated may be done one or two times between 28-34 weeks or as suggested by the obstetrician.
Other than monitoring the growth of the babies some things which sonography may help in is the location of placenta (After births), position of babies (Head down or feet down), and cervical length( length of mouth of uterus)Blood tests may be done more frequently almost every 11/2 to 2 months for early detection of anemia, deranged blood sugar etc.
If all goes well, delivery is usually planned around 36-37 weeks. If a cervical knot is taken, then the most suitable time to cut it is around 36 weeks. Mode of delivery whether normal or cesarean depends upon the gestation period, location of placenta, the weights and condition of babies and position of babies. Depending upon all these factors the obstetrician will sketch a plan after discussing with you and your partner. It is always better to deliver at a place where NICU facilities are available as one orbothe the babies may need some initial care.
Pregnancies after Infertility treatment have higher risk of preterm labor and PROM (Premature rupture of membranes). 8% of women who have undergone test tube baby centre or ICSI have a risk of delivering prematurely as against 5%of women with natural conception. Part of this risk may be associates with more incidence of twin pregnancies in IVF treatment.
As such pregnancies after treatment of infertility are not at a very high risk of developing IUGR as compared to normal pregnancies. IUGR stands for intrauterine growth restriction which means that the baby is slow in growth and therefore low birth weight. However there might be slight increase in growth restriction of the fetus in following situations:
All the above situations mainly lead to IUGR because they affect the placenta i.e. the organ supplying blood to fetus from the mother. The mechanism may be different but the effect is same i.e. IUGR
IUGR mainly affects the fetus and may lead to increased morbidity and mortality in the newborn baby. Complications like preterm baby, difficulty in breathing, need for IV drugs and need for NICU care increase in such babies.
Also there is a high chance that the mother may need to undergo a cesarean section as these babies do not take the stress of labour very well.