Pregnancy Complications

Posted: Jan. 1, 2004

If you have any of the symptoms, contact your health care provider right away to lower your risk of complications. There are various specific tests done during the first trimester of pregnancy, and a few screenings later in pregnancy to help prevent these problems, or spot them early. Your health care provider will give you a schedule for visits, tests, and screenings. It is important to follow your health care provider's advice about treatment so you have a safe delivery and a strong, healthy baby.

Symptoms
Slight, irregular vaginal bleeding that often is brownish; pain in the lower abdomen, often on one side, and can be followed by severe pelvic pain; shoulder pain; faintness or dizziness; nausea or vomiting.

Potential Problems
Ectopic pregnancy (the fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus, usually in the fallopian tube).

Treatment
Because the embryo of an ectopic pregnancy cannot survive, it is removed surgically; or the woman is treated with a cancer drug, methotrexate, which dissolves the pregnancy.

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Symptoms
Extreme thirst, hunger, or fatigue (but usually no symptoms). Also, a blood sugar value of 140 mg/DL or greater on a diabetes test.

Potential Problems
Gestational diabetes (a form of diabetes that usually occurs in the second half of pregnancy).

Treatment
Most women can control their blood sugar levels with diet and exercise. Some women with gestational diabetes or women who had diabetes before pregnancy need shots of insulin to keep blood sugar levels under control.

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Symptoms
Flu-like symptoms like mild fever, headache, muscle aches and tiredness; loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea; dark-colored urine and pale bowel movements; stomach pain; skin and whites of eyes turning yellow (jaundice); liver problems.

Potential Problems
Hepatitis B (can be passed on to the baby).

Treatment
Within 12 hours of birth, your baby will need a shot called HBIG, along with the first Hepatitis B shot.

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Symptoms
Mild flu-like symptoms, or possibly no symptoms.

Potential Problems
Toxoplasmosis (parasitic infection that can be passed on to the baby, which can be contracted from cat feces or soil, or from eating raw or undercooked meat that contains the parasite).

Treatment
If fetus not yet infected, mother can be given an antibiotic, spiramycin (to help reduce severity of symptoms in the newborn). If the fetus is suspected of being infected, the mother can be given two medications, pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine. Infected babies are treated at birth and through the first year of life with these medications.

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Symptoms
Painless vaginal bleeding during the second or third trimester. In many cases, no symptoms.

Potential Problems
Placenta previa (the placenta, or the temporary organ joining the mother and fetus, covers part or all of the cervix and can cause severe bleeding usually toward the end of the second trimester or later).

Treatment
If diagnosed after the 20th week of pregnancy, but with no bleeding, requires cutting back on activity level and increasing bed rest. If bleeding is heavy, requires hospitalization until mother and baby are stable. If the bleeding stops or is light, requires continued bed rest until baby is ready for delivery. If bleeding doesn't stop or if pre-term labor starts, baby will be delivered by Cesarean.

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Symptoms
Vaginal bleeding during the second half of pregnancy; cramping, abdominal pain, and uterine tenderness.

Potential Problems
Placental abruption (a condition in which the placenta separates from the uterine wall before delivery, depriving the fetus of oxygen).

Treatment
When the separation is minor, bed rest for a few days usually stops the bleeding. Moderate cases may require complete bed rest. Severe cases (when more than half of the placenta separates) can require immediate medical attention and delivery of the baby.

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Symptoms
High blood pressure (usually around 140/90); protein in the urine; swelling of the hands and face; sudden weight gain (1 pound a day or more); blurred vision; severe headaches, dizziness; intense stomach pain

Potential Problems
Pregnancy-related high blood pressure (pre-eclampsia, also called toxemia). Usually occurs after about 30 weeks of pregnancy.

Treatment
The only cure is delivery, which may not be best for the baby. Labor will probably be induced if condition is mild and woman is near term (37 to 40 weeks of pregnancy). If a woman is not yet ready for labor, her provider may monitor her and her baby closely. May require bed rest at home or in hospital, until blood pressure stabilizes or until delivery.

Source: National Women’s Health Information Office, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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