Restoring My Complexion

3 Factors That Make Your Pregnancy High-Risk

12 September 2019 by Dylan Owens

Whether you are planning to conceive or just found out you are pregnant, there are some factors that can increase your risk of complications during pregnancy. Early obstetric care can reduce some risks and allow you to determine if there are any congenital issues with your unborn child.

Age

Advanced maternal age is a well-known factor that makes your pregnancy high-risk, but many people do not realize young women can be equally high risk. Some congenital issues, such as trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) occurs at a higher rate in teenage pregnancies and in older women. Teenagers may also have a higher risk of complications during their delivery. In some instances, women who are more likely to have children with genetic or congenital issues may have testing during their pregnancy to better access their risk. Although this testing will not change the outcome of their pregnancy, they can be better prepared for delivering a child that may have special needs or health conditions.

Weight

Being underweight or overweight can both make your pregnancy high-risk. With women who are underweight, especially those with eating disorders, there can be significant concerns that they will not intake enough nutrients to have a healthy pregnancy. Additionally, there may be concerns that even if they carry a pregnancy to term, the child may have a small birth weight or complications associated with malnutrition. Women who are overweight are more likely to have gestational diabetes, which can drastically increase the birth weight of their child, leading to delivery of a very large baby. Working with a nutritionist to gain a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy, or minimize weight gain in the case of women who are very overweight, can reduce risks to the unborn child.

Chronic Diseases

There are many chronic diseases that can complicate your pregnancy. The most common are hypertension and diabetes. Women with hypertension are more likely to develop pre-eclampsia, especially in the latter stages of their pregnancy. Even if you do not have hypertension but have a family history of the disease, or other women in your family developed pre-eclampsia, you should be vigilant about changes in your blood pressure. Women with diabetes may find their diabetes is even harder to control during their pregnancy and may require constant monitoring and insulin injections to keep their blood glucose at safe levels.

Other considerations are autoimmune diseases, because some medications used to manage these conditions are not safe during pregnancy, or their effect on an unborn fetus is unknown. Women who are currently being treated for an autoimmune disease will need to carefully consider the choice to go off their medications to become pregnant since the underlying disease may flare-up dramatically and the same medications may no longer be effective after you deliver.

There are several issues that can make your pregnancy high-risk. Ideally, you will consider your personal risk factors before conceiving. In the event your pregnancy was unplanned, prompt obstetric care can reduce the risks to you and your unborn child.

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