Factors that can make pregnancy go wrong

Pregnancy is no longer something to be afraid of especially in this modern day of technological improvement as well as the amazing advancement of modern medical science. Even the normal discomforts of labour are no longer a problem to most young mothers. Seye Adeniyi reports that knowing all the impediments to smooth pregnancy will help women to have stress-free delivery.

How do you know you are pregnant? Believe me, many women cannot answer this ques tion and even those who have something to say might not be able to give correct, explanatory answer. The truth is that many women don’t know their reproductive status, some cannot even calculate their safe or unsafe period, yet they are educated.

But to answer the question, if you are “regular”, the first indication that will show that you are pregnant is that you would have missed your monthly period. At the same time, you may feel unusually cheerful and your breast may even begin to enlarge. Some women may be experiencing “unnecessary tension and may feel nervous with a slight feeling of nausea in the morning. A little vomiting at the early stage of pregnancy is also not uncommon or serious. What all this feelings mean is that nature has started making a few normal adjustments in your body as a result of the pregnancy.

If you skip stop your next period which many called monthly menstruation, then it is advisable to see your doctor. The doctor may have to carry out laboratory tests on you such as complete blood count, urinalysis, etc. The physician might also listen to your heart beat and lungs to be sure you are in a good health condition. Other things your doctor may ask you to do include height, weight, blood pressure tests, pulse feelings/test, blood types etc. Knowing these would also help your baby in many ways. Your urine test is also very important for the doctor to be sure that your kidney is functioning well.

Every woman should realise the fact that pregnancy is not something to be afraid of in this modern day of technological advancement and development. This notwithstanding, not all pregnancies end well. Few pregnancies may end with a baby’s death, or with the birth of a baby who is handicapped or deformed due to certain reasons. Some of the things or factors that may make a pregnancy end or go wrong are stated below:

Ectopic pregnancy:-
This is also called tubal pregnancy and is a rare complication in which the fertilised ovum or embryo becomes blocked in its passage through the fallopian tube. This situation, according to Dr. Boniface A. Oye-Adeniran, a consultant obstetrist and gynaecologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos, is when the embryo continues to grow as it normally would when inside the uterus. But the problem with this kind of pregnancy development is that the space within the tube is too small to allow much expansion. So, the tube may rupture, causing a serious haemorrhage and also an intense pain in the pelvis.

“If this is not checked on time, by discouraging such development or expansion, the life of both the pregnant woman and that of the developing foetus are in grave danger. This is a situation when the pregnancy becomes dangerous and a big threat to the life of the woman and in such a situation, an urgent surgery would have to be done”, Dr. Oye-Adeniran stated while talking to health reporters recently on how to maintain safe pregnancy and avoid abortion.

This type of pregnancy had actually gone wrong from the beginning and it would not end well. On how it happened, the consultant explained that after conception, the fertilised egg, instead of moving down into the womb, gets stuck in the fallopian tube and begins to grow there. Many factors could be responsible for this type of pregnancy. Infections like stapphylococus could cause it, resulting in the blockage of the fallopian tube preventing the fertilised ovum from travelling to the uterus for proper implantation.

Other infections could also block the fallopian tube. However, signs of an ectopic pregnancy usually occur after a missed period. The signs include a back pain on one side down in the abdomen, vaginal bleeding, and sometimes the feeling of faint. “If you get a strong one-sided pain and it is possible you may be pregnant, it is imperative to see your doctor. Also, if you have suffered from sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhoea, syphilis, herpes, vagina candiasis etc, it is better to get yourself properly treated before you conceive. Not doing this may result in the blockage of the fallopian tube”, the doctor advised.

Miscarriage
Heavy bleeding during the child-bearing age may be due to miscarriage or abortion. A miscarriage can be very difficult to come to terms with. Feelings of anger or guilt usually accompany such experiences anyway. It is a sense of loss, so the affected woman would have to grieve over the lost baby just as she would over the death of anyone very close to her.

Miscarriages are quite common, especially before twelve weeks when it is believed that at least one in six pregnancies end in this way. A miscarriage does occur at the early stage when there is something wrong with the baby; while a latter miscarriage can be due to the placenta not working properly, or the cervix being weak and opening too early.

On what could be responsible for miscarriages, Dr. Oye-Adeniran said any lady who has done abortion before risks miscarriages later in future. Explaining, he said the dilatation and curettage (D and C) operation which many women usually do to get rid of either unwanted or unplanned pregnancies could predisposes them to the ugly, painful experiences of miscarriage by the time they would actually want to have children.

“Many of our ladies engage in D and C. But what they don’t know or what many of them failed to understand is that the instruments used for this abortion especially by quacks may damage the neck of their fallopian tube. In the process of one or two or even several dilatation, the instruments may either cause the weakness of the neck of the cervix, making it loose to hold pregnancy while in the process of curetation, the lining of the womb will be scraped or sucked away which may later prevent the fertilised ovum from getting implanted to the uterus because the womb might be too weak to hold pregnancy. So tell me, how would miscarriage not happen in such women with series of D and C operations?”, he asked.

Many people also believe that making love in pregnancy can be the cause of miscarriage. The fact is that it is very unlikely as confirmed by many doctors who spoke with Your Health. Doctors do call a miscarriage an “abortion” or a “natural abortion”. They define it as the ending of a pregnancy month before the 28th week. After the 28th week, a baby has a good chance of survival if it is delivered. But before the 28th week, its chances are less. An early miscarriage often happens around the time a woman would have expected to have her monthly period. It can be like a period, with bleeding and a similar sort of aching pain, and may be happening on and off, while a later miscarriage after the first three months, is more like labour itself.

Losing a baby just before or after birth
A pregnancy can also end in what is called a still birth. This mean the baby is already dead before it is born. Some babies however die immediately after birth. Most of the time, the causes of these deaths are not known unless a post mortem examination is done on the dead baby.

Medical abortion
Sometimes, a pregnancy would have to be ended for medical reasons. It is even possible for the pregnancy to be “medically aborted” in mid-pregnancy when the woman would have been carrying the baby for some time and feel committed and tied to the unborn child. But your doctors would definitely tell you the reasons why such pregnancies have to be ended. For instance, if the pregnancy becomes a big threat to the life of the woman, such a pregnancy may have to be terminated depending on the decision of the doctor, says Dr. Oye-Adeniran. Giving an example, he said if the scan of the pregnancy reveals that the developing foetus is a “monster”. For instance, if the developing foetus has no hands, or even with two or three heads, what do you think should be done? Should the pregnant woman be allowed to carry such a ‘monster’ till delivery stage, when it can even become a big threat to the life of the woman during delivery?. Definitely there is no point carrying such type of pregnancy to term.

Of what purpose is a child with two heads or four legs or hands? This would be a monster that would not even benefit the couple. So it is better to remove such a pregnancy before carrying it to term. Although the permission or consent of both the husband and wife would be sought before ending such pregnancy. The doctor would advise them of the problem attached to leaving such a child to be born and the effect on the woman’s health. Even it could also pose a threat to the life of the woman during delivery. These are some of the things to consider before such a pregnancy is ended. This is what is called a permitted abortion anyway”, he emphasised.

Speaking further, he said if the mother has been previously operated upon and the uterus (i.e. womb) stitched at that time, and she is carrying another pregnancy where the scan confirmed that the position of the baby inside the womb could rip open the already operated womb, don’t you think it is advisable to end such pregnancy by immediately bringing out such baby that poses great danger to the life of the woman whose womb has already been stitched before?”he concluded.

source : www.tribune.com.ng