Medical Emergencies that might arise during Pregnancy

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Maternity emergencies:-
Life threatening problems for mother and baby are called as obstetric emergencies. They are as follows:
Emergencies that may arise during pregnancy:

• Miscarriage – It can be also called as spontaneous abortion, which results in the loss of foetus before 20 weeks of pregnancy or gestation. It mostly happens in the period of first trimester or first three months of pregnancy. A miscarriage can happen due to various reasons and cannot be controlled when it starts; the mother might need a proper treatment for infection, or to remove remaining tissue from the body.

• Ectopic pregnancy – It happens when the fertilised egg implants in one of the fallopian tubes (it carries eggs from the ovaries to the uterus) and grows outside the main cavity of uterus (womb). It is also called as ‘tubal pregnancy’. This type pregnancy cannot continue as the fertilised eggs cannot survive outside the uterus and this can result in serious loss of blood. If treated early, only medication is sufficient; but in emergency, surgery is required.

• Placental abruption – It happens when the placenta separates from the uterus before childbirth – occurs mostly around 25 weeks of pregnancy. It can cause vaginal bleeding, lower abdominal pain and severe low blood pressure.

• Placenta praevia – When placenta partially or totally covers the opening in the mother’s cervix. In this, placenta attaches to the lower part of the uterus which partly or completely blocks the opening of the womb. Mother may suffer from vaginal bleeding throughout pregnancy and during delivery.

• Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia – Dangerous pregnancy complications -induced high blood pressure (hypertension) and protein in the urine (proteinuria). It usually begins after 20 weeks of pregnancy and causes swelling in legs and water retention. It can lead to serious complications for mother and baby. If not treated properly, pre-eclampsia is converted to eclampsia (development of seizures in woman with pre-eclampsia).

• Premature rupture of membranes (PROM) – Rupture of amniotic fluid before contractions or labour begin. If the waters break before 37 weeks of pregnancy and leads to leakage of amniotic fluid or infection of the amniotic sac it is called as preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) and is an emergency situation.

For any queries related to pregnancy, and types of surgical procedures for the same, connect with Vedansha Hospital on 9168628982
Or Visit: Vedansha Hospital, 30, Surendra Nagar, WHC Road, Nagpur.