While all pregnancies carry a certain risk to them, some pregnancies have more risks factors than the average pregnancy. A pregnancy can be deemed high risk for a variety of reasons including:
- A pre-existing medical condition, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
- Conception occurred while taking certain medications for other health issues.
- Age 35 years or older at the time of delivery.
- A medical history of a prior stillbirth or recurrent miscarriage.
- Development of pregnancy complications, such as preterm labor, too much or too little amniotic fluid, infection, vaginal bleeding, gestational diabetes, or high blood pressure.
- Complications found or suspected in the fetus, such as birth defects including cleft lip or heart defect, infections, or medical issues such as Down syndrome.
- Abnormal placentas or conditions such as placenta previa or an abruption.
- Multiple fetuses such as twins or triplets.
If you are experiencing a high risk pregnancy, you may continue to see your regular obstetrician and merely consult with a high risk specialist, known as a perinatologist or maternal fetal medicine specialist, or you may need to completely switch to the care of the high risk doctor, depending on your pregnancy and what’s going on. If you were seeing a midwife, you will now usually be completely switched to the care of an obstetrician though some midwives are able to still consult with your practitioner.
Together, your medical team will help decide the best care for your pregnancy. It may require more prenatal visits, increased testing and fetal surveillance for the duration of your pregnancy or for a certain portion of the pregnancy. You will talk about treatment options and figure out the best course of action. This can include bed rest, hospitalization, and other interventions or medications.
Some practitioners will find that you are only high risk for the pregnancy and not for the labor and delivery for your baby. If this is the case you may be returned to your original care providers. This might be true if the risk you had has for premature labor or something that has resolved.