Pregnancy is a fortune and a gift for every woman. All pregnant women certainly want their pregnancy to run smoothly and healthy until it’s time to give birth later.
In fact, sometimes the things we want don’t happen that smoothly. Especially if the doctor has stated that your condition is classified as a high-risk pregnancy.
Indeed, basically all pregnancies experienced by every woman clearly have their own risks. But, there are several conditions that make you have a higher risk pregnancy, the impact can even endanger the health of the mother and fetus.
Moreover, the danger of this high-risk pregnancy does not only occur when the baby is still in the womb. When the baby is born, and the mother is in postpartum period there may be a risk.
Get to know more about high risk pregnancies with dr. Lilia Mufida, SpOG (K), who is a Fetomaternal Consultant Obstetrics & Gynecology Specialist Doctor from Kemang Medical Care, on Instagram Live Ibupedia the following.
Factors leading to high risk pregnancy
Doctor Lilia explained that a high-risk pregnancy is a pregnancy that has the potential to cause problems for the mother and fetus, both during pregnancy and at birth. This high-risk pregnancy needs good treatment as one of the ways to prevent it. There are many factors that cause high-risk pregnancies, including:
- History of past pregnancies: Have given birth by caesarean section, have a history of miscarriage, have you had preeclampsia
- Associated diseases: Hypertension, diabetes, autoimmune and congenital heart disease
- Physical condition: Has a height of less than 145 cm, pregnant at the age of over 35 years or less than 17 years, obesity, or under weight
- Current condition: High risk pregnancy diagnosed placenta previalittle amniotic fluid, too much amniotic fluid, umbilical cord circumference, umbilical cord too short.
Screening for high risk pregnancies
The risk of high-risk pregnancies can actually be prevented and suppressed in various ways. As part of prevention for high-risk pregnancies, doctor Lilia advises that before planning a pregnancy, you must do counseling first.
So that doctors can carry out examinations and detect congenital diseases and other possibilities. Especially if the age during pregnancy is more than 35 years.
“This counseling is important so that you can get the right education. Later the doctor will suggest doing a complete lab check and ultrasound of the uterus, “explained doctor Lilia.
This applies if you are planning your first pregnancy. Another goal is for you to be able to prepare in advance in terms of your health and readiness.
For example, improving nutritional intake, losing or increasing weight or if there are co-morbidities can be controlled so that during pregnancy it can be more optimal. It’s important to do this as early as possible and don’t let it be too late, Mom!
High risk pregnancy, of course there are impacts
According to Lilia’s doctor, everything that is at high risk clearly has an impact. In this case it can be caused to the mother and fetus.
“So, say if you are pregnant with obesity. This condition can cause the mother to experience gestational diabetes which will increase defects in the fetus,” he added.
Likewise when you have a high-risk pregnancy with congenital hypertension. This will trigger preeclampsia which is clearly very dangerous for the mother and fetus.
Where mothers can have seizures during childbirth and cause organ damage. High-risk pregnancies over 35 years of age can also contribute to the risk of defects in the fetus. If the mother is too thin, it can also make the fetus malnourished.
As a result, pregnancy is not optimal. For this reason, one of the things that can be done to suppress high-risk pregnancies is to do a Fetomaternal Ultrasound.
Fetomaternal ultrasound, how is it different from regular ultrasound?
Doctor Lilia explained that examination through Fetomaternal Ultrasound in mothers with high-risk pregnancies is clearly different from screening through ordinary ultrasound. Fetomaternal ultrasound examination will be more detailed.
Process screening This also can not be done by any doctor. Fetomaternal ultrasound must be performed by a special Fetomaternal subspecialist consultant.
Different from process screening through regular ultrasound, Fetomaternal ultrasound will usually be carried out in more detail. The examination time is also longer, which is around 30-45 minutes per patient.
The doctor will later examine all the internal organs of the fetus in detail, starting from:
- Head organs: Head circumference, cerebellum, blood flow to the brain
- Neck: Is the umbilical cord wrapped, or a possible tumor on the neck
- Thorax: Heart, lungs, chest cavity and abdominal cavity
- The size of the feet and hands
- Measurement of blood flow to the uterus and umbilical cord
- Normal or not the location of the placenta.
How many Fetomaternal Ultrasound done?
When doctors suspect that there is a possibility of a high-risk pregnancy for a mother, they will usually immediately provide a referral to the subspecialist doctor concerned. According to doctor Lilia, Fetomaternal ultrasound usually takes longer for the screening process.
The goal is to get good and accurate results. Well, the Fetomaternal Ultrasound itself can be done 2 times, the first is in the 1st trimester (12-14 weeks).
This first Fetomaternal ultrasound was done to see if there was a risk Down Syndrome in babies. Because this condition can increase if mothers with high-risk pregnancies are over 35 years old.
For the second Fetomaternal ultrasound can be done in the 2nd trimester (22-28 weeks). At this time, usually the baby’s organs can be seen more clearly, starting from the organs of the head, legs, blood flow to the brain and so on.
“Well, after finishing the examination, the doctor will explain the results to the patient directly and give notes to the referring doctor. Usually the accuracy of Fetomaternal Ultrasound is 60%. It depends on the mother’s age, the condition of the fetus, and the baby’s position during the ultrasound,” he said.
When the baby’s position is not right or is on his stomach or in another position, obviously this can make the Fetomaternal Ultrasound examination more difficult and less accurate. This is what then makes you asked to do another Fetomaternal Ultrasound in the following days.
Is it safe for mothers with high-risk pregnancies to do Fetomaternal Ultrasound?
No need to worry, ma’am. Even though you are classified as having a high-risk pregnancy, and are advised to do repeated Fetomaternal Ultrasounds, in fact this examination is safe for the health of the mother and fetus.
“Fetomaternal ultrasound is an examination through sound, reflected, and with the help of gel you can see images of the fetus. This examination has no risks, it is very safe as long as it is done as quickly as possible, “explained doctor Lilia.
Moreover, with the equipment that many hospitals have in Indonesia, there is mechanical index protection and it is very safe for the mother and the fetus. Moreover, during the screening process the baby will usually always move and be protected through the mother’s abdominal wall.
This makes the risk of Fetomaternal Ultrasound to detect a high-risk pregnancy almost non-existent. Doctor Lilia also explained that anyone can do a Fetomaternal Ultrasound.
Mothers can come to the Fetomaternal consultant independently, even with or without a referral from an obstetrician. However, what needs to be known is that the number of Fetomaternal consultants in Indonesia is still small.
So this examination cannot be done in all hospitals. This means that not all hospitals have related consultants. For this reason, why most doctors tend to provide referrals to certain hospitals when they suspect abnormalities for mothers with high-risk pregnancies.
