Complications that could occur due to Diabetes Mellitus

In half or even more of the pregnant women diabetes is known to be present even before pregnancy occurs. The woman must apprise her doctor with information rather than to leave it to him to detect it during antenatal checkup. Even if she is not aware of it, she should report to him such manifestations as increased thirst, greater frequency of urination, increased appetite etc. It should be borne in mind that diabetes is more prone to develop toxaemias of pregnancy. Management of pregnancy complicated with diabetes is best done by an obstetrician in collaboration with a physician. Foetus of such a woman runs the risk of dying at anytime during pregnancy. This risk is greater during the last months. The baby is likely to be larger and heavier than an average baby born at full term. One must be mentally prepared to face all complications if you are a mother with diabetes. The chances are that either you have to undergo a caesarean section or surgical induction of labour. The large, oedematous baby should immediately be examined by a child specialist. He requires special care. Despite his being overweight, he needs to be treated as premature if delivered before term

Malaria and Pregnancy

Everyone knows that malaria is spread by mosquito bite. Malaria is a serious problem in ordinary people. It is of more concern in the case of a pregnant woman. Most of the countries had eradicated malaria and India was one such country. But the return of malaria in the Indian sub continent poses a big challenge. High swinging fevers as a result of malaria may complicate pregnancy and may even result in abortion, premature labour, and at times in foetal death. Malaria causes deterioration in the mother’s health. It also causes severe anemia and difficulty in child birth. If your pregnancy is complicated with malaria then cooperate with your doctor in curing malaria. It must be remembered that pregnancy is not a contra indication for using antimalarial drugs. Do not be taken in by the loose talks that antimalarial agents cause abortion. The risk percentage is very low and in fact it is practically zero when compared to the danger involved in not treating the infection. In some cases the death of the mother may also occur if malaria is not treated. The best way is to avoid getting infected and in the event of being infected with malaria it is better to consult your doctor and get treated.

Anemia during Pregnancy

During pregnancy total blood volume shoots up by about 45 percent and as a result of the dilution of the blood, ordinary technique of blood examination will show anemia. During pregnancy a woman saves about 25mg of iron since she no longer loses blood in menstrual periods. The foetus requires 400 mg of iron, the placenta 150 mg and lactation 300 mg. Thus the requirement of iron is more than what she saves. Poor dietary intake, worm infestation, chronic infections like TB can also cause anemia. Anemia in pregnancy causes vague but widespread manifestations like pallor of skin, nail and conjunctiva. There is loss of appetite, giddiness and insomnia. She gets tired easily and has a feeling of being unwell. She may become conscious of heartbeat which may become quite fast. Nails may become brittle and flattened. In advanced cases she may experience breathlessness, swelling of feet, red and swollen tongue, and difficulty in swallowing. Anemia may have adverse effect not only on the mother but also on the child. It can cause low birth weight in infants. If you have not yet had a checkup go to your doctor immediately and get your blood and stools tested. Cooperate with your doctor and follow his advice properly. Take the medicines prescribed by him regularly. Remember “Prevention is better than cure”.

Vomiting During Pregnancy

In some nervous and hypersensitive pregnant women, what begins as morning sickness becomes severe and persists, occurring several times a day. The vomitus may contain blood. All too soon, the woman stops accepting food and a little later even water is rejected. She not only becomes anorexic and constipated but also becomes weak. She may experience excessive thirst, dryness of the mouth and fall in the amount of urine results. The blood pressure falls and the pulse becomes fast and weak. She presents a picture of wasting and misery. Treatment of this problem, hyperemesis gravidarum, should be left to the doctor and his team. It is advisable to admit the patient to a hospital. What the pregnant woman must do to safeguard against the above mentioned serious condition is to take adequate care of the so called morning sickness which may be a predecessor to hyperemesis gravidarum. A cup of weak tea or a fruit drink together with sweet biscuits should be taken in a recumbent position. She should sit up only after this drink. She should eat on waking up in the morning. During the day, she should take small amounts of carbohydrates rich foods at frequent intervals, and avoid fats, fish, meat and soups.

The first look of the new born!

Now don’t be surprised if your baby did not look like one of those babies in the movies or advertisements. It will take about three to four months before your baby will look anything like them. But what is important is that they are healthy and normal. Do not be disappointed if you got a baby girl instead of a boy because at the beginning and end they are our own babies and need a lot of our love and good upbringing. We cannot do anything about choosing to have a boy or girl but we can definitely choose how to bring them up. It is quite normal for the baby to look more like a little monkey with a large head, dome-shaped abdomen, lean and thin buttocks but wait to see better for a couple of more months and you are sure to be happy. The baby will grow to look a lot like what you imagined it to and do all that you wanted it to do like playing and grumbling and more. We will talk about a lot of details with respect to skin, head, hair, eyes, mouth, abdomen, breasts, external genitals, measurements and all about the behaviour and performances.

Complications for the baby during birth

It is not difficult for just the mother but also for the baby during its birth although most babies are naturally born with no complications. In the first place, during labour, as and when there is a labour pain, the baby is deprived of its blood supply and hence the oxygen supply. This will lead to the child having minimal brain dysfunction. Secondly the large head of the baby may undergo far too much of squeezing during its passage through the narrow birth canal. This may cause the soft tissues of the brain and its surrounding membranes to tear and bleed into the brain resulting in permanent brain damage. Also during the passage through the narrow birth canal, the shoulders may be fractured from all the squeezing. Not all deliveries can happen the normal way. Due to all the complications that may happen during birth, doctors perform the caesarean section, a method of surgical delivery. They also use very attractive and hi tech instruments to do all the surgeries but still there is always the risk of damage to the head or shoulders of the baby. It may also happen so that the baby wont cry or breathe as soon as its born which will cause in the failure of various physiological processes to begin.

Complication in child birth!

Child birth may not be a smooth process all the time and sometimes it can be far from smooth. Most healthy mothers who had antenatal check up do have successful outcome of pregnancy and labour. The causes for difficult child birth are quite few but all of them complex. As the first case the lie of the baby may be abnormal i.e. head up rather than the normal head down position. This is called breech presentation. Secondly the contractions of the womb may not be adequate. Thirdly the outlet of the pelvis may be too small to permit an easy passage of the baby at labour. Fourthly more than one foetus in the womb may create difficulties during birth. Fifthly the mother may find herself unable to push the baby out. In case of a breech presentation in which the baby’s buttocks is down and head is up, the doctors are able to diagnose it during the antenatal and will correct the situation as such or using anesthesia. When manipulation is impossible the doctors have no choice but to deliver the baby bottom first which is a very complicated process and very difficult for the mother too.

Child birth!

It sounds scary and all so complex for most women. But whether it is or not, the end result is something that’s worth everything. It is of course painful and involves a lot of hard work by the mother and thud the name “labour”. There are three stages in child birth.
Stage1: This is the first sign of labour, the occurrence of regular contractions and then the plug of mucus coming off. In time the contractions become more frequent as the muscles of the womb start pushing the baby’s head towards the cervix. Eventually the mouth of the cervix will fully be dilated. The first stage lasts quite long enough to take the woman to a hospital.
Stage2: Now the cervix is fully dilated and the bag of water surrounding the baby splits causing the leakage of fluid. Now the labour pains become very strong. The mother will now have to push the baby out by tightening the abdominal muscles and relaxing in between every pain. The baby’s head will eventually reach the vulva and for the last push the limbs and the trunk will also come out.
Stage3: Finally it’s the part of separation of the baby and the mother by clamping the cord (placenta) and cutting the same. This will usually take 10 minutes and then the mother will have to push out the remaining placenta after the womb becomes lose and mobile.

Common disorders in Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a unique experience for the mother. She can feel a new life growing inside her and this lets her dream beautiful dreams about her baby. Pregnancy puts on additional burden on the woman's system. This additional load may at times cause certain medical problems in some pregnant women. These problems may have adverse effect on the progress and outcome of pregnancy. Some of the common medical problems that a pregnant woman is likely to encounter are Anemia, Sevier and obstinate vomiting, Toxaemias of pregnancy, Diabetes mellitus, Malaria, Disorders of urinary tract infection, Intestinal parasitic infection, Heart disease, Varicose veins and Abortion. All these medical problems need not necessarily be present in all pregnant women. Some of these medical problems could be due to stress in which case it would vanish after the termination of the pregnancy. Some medical problems like heart disease, Diabetes etc could be due to hereditary factor and this should be attended to. Most of the above said medical problems could be overcome by following good healthy diet, exercise and sufficient sleep. This will also help the pregnant mother to have a safe and normal delivery. Whatever be the situation the pregnant mother should be calm and relaxed.

Husband’s role in wife’s confinement

A good husband is a good friend, counselor, playmate and what not. A mere “ I shall take care of you ” is all that required from the husband to help his wife to cheer up and keep her morale high. A husband should learn all about his wife’s pregnancy and should be there with her during child birth. Watching all the things happening right under your nose will make it most interesting for both the husband and the wife. It is also good for both the husband and his expecting wife to read books on pregnancy and also discuss facts about pregnancy with her. Even if you hear dreadful stories from your friends do not discuss about them with your fire reassure her on safe child birth and never frighten her with dreadful facts and stories. Ensure that bad literature does not reach her. This may be interesting to read but will leave a very adverse effect in the mind of the pregnant woman. Always accompany your wife to the doctor and get regular updated about her health condition. If you are tense and anxious don’t show your feelings to you wife as this may disturb her also. When she shows signs of onset of delivery don’t hesitate take her to the hospital immediately and try to be at her side.