A high-risk pregnancy is a pregnancy that poses a threat to a woman before or during pregnancy, or after delivery. A high-risk pregnancy demands regular monitoring and special care of both the baby and mother throughout the pregnancy.
Fetal complications and multiples
You may be considered high-risk if you have a history of miscarriage, preterm labor, or cesarean delivery. Likewise, if you've already had one child with a birth defect, any subsequent pregnancies may be treated as high-risk.
Types of pregnancy include intrauterine pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, tubal pregnancy, intra-abdominal pregnancy, singlet pregnancy, multiple pregnancy (twins, triplets, quadruplets, etc.), lupus pregnancy, high-risk pregnancy, and molar pregnancy. There are many different types of pregnancies.
First Trimester (0 to 13 Weeks)
The first trimester is the most crucial to your baby's development. During this period, your baby's body structure and organ systems develop. Most miscarriages and birth defects occur during this period. Your body also undergoes major changes during the first trimester.
In 1979, the FDA established five letter risk categories - A, B, C, D or X - to indicate the potential of a drug to cause birth defects if used during pregnancy. The categories were determined by assessing the reliability of documentation and the risk to benefit ratio.
Factors Considered for High Risk Pregnancy
Age – less than 15 or more than 38 years. Weight – weight under 100 lb before pregnancy or overweight. Height – under five feet. Difficult pregnancies in the past.
High blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, epilepsy, thyroid disease, heart or blood disorders, poorly controlled asthma, and infections can increase pregnancy risks.
Category A: No risk in human studies (studies in pregnant women have not demonstrated a risk to the fetus during the first trimester). Category B: No risk in animal studies (there are no adequate studies in humans, but animal studies did not demonstrate a risk to the fetus). Category C: Risk cannot be ruled out.
A cryptic pregnancy is when you don't know you're pregnant. It can happen to people who have irregular periods, don't know the common signs of pregnancy or get a negative result on a pregnancy test. Appointments 216.444.6601.
Pregnancy and Lupus. Women with lupus can safely get pregnant and most will have normal pregnancies and healthy babies. However, all women with lupus who get pregnant are considered to have a “high risk pregnancy.” This means that problems during pregnancy may be more likely for women with lupus.
Down syndrome, which arises from a chromosome defect, is likely to have a direct link with the increase in stress levels seen in couples during the time of conception, say Surekha Ramachandran, founder of Down Syndrome Federation of India, who has been studying about the same ever since her daughter was diagnosed with ...
High levels of stress that continue for a long time may cause health problems, like high blood pressure and heart disease. During pregnancy, stress can increase the chances of having a baby who is preterm (born before 37 weeks of pregnancy) or a low-birthweight baby (weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces).
Most miscarriages - 8 out of 10 (80 percent) - happen in the first trimester before the 12th week of pregnancy. Miscarriage in the second trimester (between 13 and 19 weeks) happens in 1 to 5 in 100 (1 to 5 percent) pregnancies. Pregnancy loss that happens after 20 weeks is called stillbirth.
Harmful exposures during the first trimester have the greatest chance of causing major birth defects. This is because many important developmental changes take place during this time. The major structures of the body form in the first trimester.
Recommendations. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists makes the following recommendations: Working during pregnancy is generally safe. For those in high-risk occupations or with medically complicated pregnancies, work accommodations often can allow for continued safe employment.
Category B: Either animal-reproduction studies have not demonstrated a fetal risk but there are no controlled studies in pregnant women, or animal studies have demonstrated risk to the fetus that was not confirmed in controlled studies in pregnant women in the first trimester and there is no evidence of a risk in later ...
Most birth defects occur in the first 3 months of pregnancy, when the organs of the baby are forming. This is a very important stage of development. However, some birth defects occur later in pregnancy.
Superfetation is a phenomenon that occurs when a pregnant woman releases an egg, usually a few weeks into her pregnancy, and it's fertilized and implants in the uterus. The result is two separate pregnancies happening at the same time.
Malar rash, also named a butterfly rash, is a common facial presentation of multiple disorders. It is characterized by an erythematous flat or raised rash across the bridge of the nose and cheeks, which usually spares nasolabial folds. It may be transient or progress to involve other areas of facial skin.
Several factors impact the number of offspring in patients with SLE, including active inflammatory disease, comorbidities (eg, renal insufficiency, lupus nephritis, and anti-phospholipid syndrome), exposure to gonadotoxic treatments, advanced maternal age, psychosocial aspects and pregnancy loss (discussed below).
What is a chemical pregnancy? A chemical pregnancy is a very early miscarriage that happens within the first five weeks of pregnancy. An embryo forms and may even embed in your uterus lining (implantation), but then it stops developing. Chemical pregnancies occur so early that many people who miscarry don't realize it.