Serious Complications of Pregnancy

Pregnancy is the most important phase in a woman's life, during which the woman undergoes certain physiological, hormonal as well as psychological changes. Nurturing new life inside the womb and becoming a mother is an exciting, but quite challenging experience in a woman's life. Generally, most women have uncomplicated, normal pregnancies and deliveries. However, there is a possibility of developing some complications during pregnancy such as anemia, high/low blood pressure or gestational diabetes. These complications can affect mother or fetus, or both.

Complications in Pregnancy

Pregnancy is an important phase, when a woman needs extreme care and watchful attention. There may be a number of minor and major problems associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Almost every woman experiences minor problems such as vomiting, nausea, constipation, hemorrhoids, minor infections to mother or baby, temporary hair loss, minor tears in vaginal or cervix and uncontrolled or accidental urination, which is also known as temporary stress incontinence. Although major complications are rare, they can occur in some cases. A woman's overall health can play significant role in preventing complications. Some of the most critical complications during pregnancy are diabetes, seizure disorders, kidney, lung or heart disease, hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases.

The risk of developing serious pregnancy complications is higher in overweight women as well as women addicted to alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs. Some of the serious complications that can occur before, during or after childbirth are:

• Preterm labor
• Allergic reaction to medications
• High blood pressure during pregnancy, which can worsen with labor
• Abnormal presentation
• Stress, harmful to baby
• Failure to progress through the stages of labor
• Infections
• Problems with umbilical cord
• Prolonged pregnancy
• Uterine inversion
• Postpartum depression

There may be heavy bleeding before, during or after labor. It may result from uterine atony or serious tears or cuts in the birth canal, bladder or rectum. There may be some complications regarding placenta such as placenta abruption, placenta accrete, retained placenta or placental abruption.

There may be failure of embryo to implant in the womb, which may result in miscarriage. This condition is known as ectopic pregnancy. In normal pregnancy, the fertilized ovum itself implants in the uterus. In ectopic pregnancy, the embryo implants in other areas, usually in the fallopian tubes. As the embryo develops, it pushes against the fallopian tube and weakens its walls. It causes bleeding and bursting of fallopian tube. Some of the warning signs of ectopic pregnancy are abdominal pain (generally at one side), shoulder pain at the same side, fainting and possible bleeding. In such cases, embryo should be removed from the fallopian tube.

There is a possibility of pre-term labor in some women. Some of the warning signs of pre-term labor are changes in vaginal discharge (bleeding or leaking fluid from vagina), contractions every 10 minutes, low, dull backache and abdominal cramps with or without diarrhea.

A woman may suffer from various complications during pregnancy such as Bell's Palsy, breast cancer, coccydynia, brachial neuralgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, intercostal neuralgia, teratology of drugs and other substances (such as aspirin, caffeine, antibiotics, artificial sweetener, antihistamines, acne drugs, antidepressant drugs, etc), and eclampsia (toxemia of pregnancy).

If a woman gets good prenatal care, then several complications that are likely during pregnancy can be managed or prevented. Therefore, it is very important for the woman to regularly attend all scheduled checkups during pregnancy period.