What We Want You to Know About High-Risk Pregnancy

Whether it’s your first pregnancy or you’ve been down this road before, you want everything to go as smoothly as possible for you and your unborn child (or children!).

In recent years, the live birth rate in the United States has hovered around 3.6 million, and between 6% and 8% of these pregnancies each year fall into the high-risk category.

This categorization doesn’t mean you should hit the panic button, but it does mean that the team here at Beyond Women’s Care will be paying much closer attention to your pregnancy and prenatal care. While we’ll do our part, it’s important that you understand your high-risk pregnancy, starting with this information.

When a pregnancy starts out as high risk

There are any number of reasons why we might place you into a high-risk pregnancy category , which is any pregnancy in which the health of the unborn child or mother is at higher risk. Some of the qualifications for high risk are entirely out of your control, such as:

• Being 35 years or older
• Being under the age of 17
• Having multiple babies
• Previous issues with pregnancy or childbirth

For these issues, we designate you as high risk, but only out of caution and not because something has already happened that has us concerned.

A bigger issue that we face are women who have pre-existing health conditions that might affect pregnancy. Nearly 130 million Americans are diagnosed with at least one major chronic condition, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, etc. 

If this is what’s placing you in the high-risk group, it means that we'll keep a close eye on your health throughout your pregnancy, and you should also work with your primary care provider or specialist to manage your pre-existing condition during pregnancy.

Becoming high risk during your pregnancy

There are also plenty of times when women start out with normal risk, but develop a condition during pregnancy that prompts us to switch over to high risk.

Two of the biggest culprits in this regard are:

Gestational diabetes

Up to 10% of pregnancies in the US are affected by gestational diabetes, which is diabetes that develops during pregnancy. This is a serious development for both mother and child, and we’ll need to regulate your blood sugar for the rest of your pregnancy.

Preeclampsia

The other major issue we’re worried about is preeclampsia, which is high blood pressure that develops during pregnancy. Preeclampsia is responsible for 2% to 8% of pregnancy-related complications, so we want to pay close attention to your cardiovascular health throughout your pregnancy.

Of course, there are other things that we might detect along the way that can move your pregnancy to high risk, such as genetic disorders or fetal abnormalities, but gestational diabetes and preeclampsia are the most common.

Navigating your high-risk pregnancy

Whatever has placed you in the high risk pregnancy category, what it usually means for you is that we’re going to want to increase your prenatal care visits so we can monitor you more closely. 

It’s hard to say here how we’ll treat your high-risk pregnancy, as it depends upon the underlying risk factor. The good news is that you’re in excellent hands with our team, who will make sure you have the resources and tools that you need to navigate your pregnancy successfully.

If you have more questions about high risk-pregnancies or you'd like to schedule a prenatal visit to determine whether you have any pregnancy risks, please call our office in Rochester Hills, Michigan, at 248-284-4859, or you can contact us through our website.