High-risk pregnancy

A high-risk pregnancy is a

Source:[4]

Pregnancies may be considered high-risk if the mother has certain pre-existing health conditions. These include:

• Age
  • trimester.^[5] It is not yet well-understood how older age leads to increased risk of FGR, but studies have suggested that it could be related to placenta dysfunction.^[5][6]
  • Younger age - Pregnant teenagers are more likely to develop anemia, have preterm births, and have low birth weight babies.^[7]
• Chronic high blood pressure - The CDC estimates the rate of chronic hypertension in the US as 166.9 per 100,000 hospital deliveries.^[8] Hypertension is considered a risk factor for high-risk pregnancy because it leads to an increased risk of pre-eclampsia, restricted fetal growth, and preterm birth.^[9][10] It is not yet well-understood how hypertension leads to increased risk of these outcomes. However, it is thought that hypertension leads to decreased blood flow to the placenta.^[10] Decreased blood flow to the fetus could lead to restricted growth and trigger other changes that increase the risk of pre-eclampsia, restricted fetal growth, and pre-term birth.^[11]
• high birth weight or macrosomia and preterm birth. Macrosomia can put the fetus at risk of brachial plexus injury due to shoulder dystocia during vaginal delivery.^[12][13]
• Cardiac/
  heart disease - During pregnancy, there is an increase in the volume of circulating blood.^[14] In women with cardiac disease, this increased blood volume can worsen/exacerbate existing heart disease.^[15]
• Autoimmune disease

Fetal-related factors

In some pregnancies, certain conditions that arise in the developing fetus or fetuses can put a pregnancy into a high-risk category. In these situations, special care must be taken during the pregnancy to address these factors while the fetus is still in the

• congenital defects
• multiple gestations
• fetal growth restriction

Pregnancy-related factors

Other reasons a pregnancy may be classified as high-risk include if the mother develops a medical condition during pregnancy or if complications occur during pregnancy.

• Conditions developed during pregnancy:
  • Pre-eclampsia: Pre-eclampsia is a syndrome marked by a sudden increase in the blood pressure of a pregnant woman after the 20th week of pregnancy. It can affect the mother's kidneys, liver, and brain. When left untreated, the condition can be fatal for the mother and/or the fetus and result in long-term health problems.^[16]
  • Eclampsia: Eclampsia is a more severe form of preeclampsia, marked by seizures and coma in the mother.^[6][17]
  • HELLP Syndrome^[18]
  • perinatal outcomes such as preterm labor and delivery, preeclampsia, and other hypertension-related conditions in pregnancy. Additionally, some evidence suggests that GDM is associated with long-term outcomes such as development of type 2 diabetes in the mother and future obesity in the infant.^[19][20][21]
• Timing of pregnancy:
  • Preterm birth (infants born before 37 weeks of pregnancy)[22]^[23]
    • PROM (Pre-labor Rupture of Membranes)^[24][25][26]
  • Post-term pregnancy (infants born after 42 weeks of pregnancy)^[27]
• Placenta - The placenta is a structure within the uterus that facilitates exchange of nutrients, oxygen, and waste products between the mother and the fetus. When this connection between mother and fetus is abnormally positioned, the pregnancy is more complicated and requires careful delivery technique.
  • Placental abruption^[28]
  • Placenta accreta^[29][30]
• spontaneous abortion or affect typical fetal growth and development.^[31] Several infections that are notably associated with pregnancy include Group B streptococcus,^[32] Bacterial vaginosis,^[33] yeast infections,^[34] and Zika virus.^[35] Some of these infections may be rare but are associated with significant infant morbidity and mortality, particularly if the infection spreads throughout the fetal nervous system. Early evidence shows that COVID-19 maternal infection in pregnancy may increase adverse outcomes such as preeclampsia.^[36][37]
• Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome^[38]