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Are there concerns for high weight women during pregnancy?
A woman's weight and BMI during and after pregnancy is often discussed and debated. This is especially true in the case of high-weight women, who, as research shows, have a higher risk of complications like cesarean birth.
Today's episode is to discuss high weight women in pregnancy and when we need to concerned and when we don't PLUS, we also discuss some very questionable myths and treatments followed for high-weight women that you need to be aware of. But these in no way imply that people with very low body weight have uncomplicated pregnancies. To prove that, we compare pregnancy risks, body weight gain, and recovery in low-weight, normal weight and high-weight pregnant women and see clearly why a lower than ideal body weight could also pose significant birth complications.
PS. Excessive weight is sometimes associated with ovulation issues. That, in turn, could be caused due to PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome), which is associated with a hormonal imbalance that messes up your ability to metabolize.
Here are a few known complications faced by high-weight women during pregnancy:
>> Preeclampsia -- Condition associated with high blood pressure and other complications, including retaining fluid and end-organ dysfunction. In extreme cases, it can lead to eclampsia or seizures, a severe form of preeclampsia.
>> Diabetes (pregestational and gestational) -- Diabetes that's detected during the first trimester or the beginning of the second trimester is called pregestational diabetes. These can lead to abnormalities of development and more chances of miscarriages. Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that's developed in women during pregnancy. Women who have this condition wouldn't have had diabetes previously.
>> Preterm delivery -- A condition that might cause pregnant women to go into labor early.
>> Macrosomia -- High weight of the baby
>> Higher weight loss -- High-weight women tend to lose more weight during pregnancy, which is unhealthy. It's healthy to end a pregnancy with a greater weight than what they started with.
>> High risk of C section -- High-weight women are at a 70 % risk of a C-section -- even after complications like hypertension and diabetes have been neutralized.
>> Less sensitivity to oxytocin -- Hence an increased need for oxytocin augmentation.
>> The need to use IPCs (Intrauterine Pressure Catheter) -- a device placed inside the pregnant woman's uterus to monitor uterine contractions during labor.
>> Pelvic outlet is narrower -- This is alleviated by making positional changes.
>> Uterine tilt if a woman previously had high weight and lost it abruptly -- This
is alleviated by making positional changes.
>> Remodelling of bones -- As the bones become more narrow, changes are caused in getting the baby.
>> Shoulder dystocia and postpartum hemorrhage -- Massage from postpartum hemorrhage is also harder.
>> Difficult labor -- Caused due to positional issues of internal organs and the baby
A common pregnancy complication seen (especially) in low-weight women: >> Hyphemeresis -- A condition that causes severe metabolic disturbances,
including abnormal amounts of nausea and vomiting.
There’s a ton of other valuable insight offered in this episode. Do not forget to tune in!
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
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