What Should I Know About High-Risk Pregnancies?

Though you understand that there are never any guarantees in pregnancy, you want to learn more about high-risk pregnancies as you embark on your family-building.

The reality is that between 6% and 8% of pregnancies in American women are classified as high risk, for a variety of reasons, many of which we get into here.

The team at Bay Area Physicians for Women’s Health includes obstetric and pregnancy specialists, so we have extensive experience with high-risk pregnancies. And here’s what we want you to know.

Entering a pregnancy with a higher risk

There are two ways in which your pregnancy can become classified as high risk: 1) You start the pregnancy at higher risk; or 2) Something occurs during your pregnancy that raises your risks.

When we talk about risks, we’re referring to any factors that can potentially place the birth mother’s and/or the unborn baby’s health in jeopardy. 

Some of the factors that place a mother-to-be into the high-risk category right from the start include:

• Advanced maternal age (35 and older)
• Pre-existing health conditions
• A history of miscarriage or Cesarean section
• Previous preterm birth
• Drug, alcohol, and tobacco use
• Multiple fetuses (e.g., twins or triplets)
• Weight issues — carrying too much or too little weight

In these cases, a woman enters the pregnancy at higher risk, but it certainly doesn’t mean that something will go wrong — plenty of women with high-risk pregnancies successfully build families.

What it does mean is that we’re going to monitor you more closely during your pregnancy. This can translate to more prenatal visits and testing so that we can keep your pregnancy on the healthiest track.

When a high-risk situation develops during pregnancy

Now let’s look at the second way that a pregnancy can become high risk — something occurs during the pregnancy that raises the risks. Some examples of this include:

Gestational diabetes

This is a condition in which a mom-to-be develops diabetes during the pregnancy, which can be potentially dangerous for both the mother and the unborn child. Gestational diabetes occurs in slightly more than 8% of pregnancies in the US. Fortunately, we can treat gestational diabetes.

Preeclampsia

This is a concerning complication in which the expectant mother develops dangerously high blood pressure. Preeclampsia occurs in about 5% to 7% of pregnancies, and it can be dangerous for both the mother and the fetus.

Other health issues

Aside from gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, other health issues can develop in either the mother or the fetus that can raise the risks of the pregnancy.

The bottom line is that if something develops during your pregnancy, we‘re with you every step of the way. Our goal is the same as yours — welcoming a healthy, new baby (babies) into the world — and we leave no stone unturned to accomplish this.

If you have more questions about high-risk pregnancies, we’re happy to sit down with you to conduct some preconception counseling. To set that in motion, we invite you to contact our office in Mobile, Alabama, to schedule a consultation.