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Re: High risk pregnancy From: Steve & Eryl Raymond (eryl@intekom.co.za) Fri Apr 19 00:05:42 2002 Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ] Next message: Steve & Eryl Raymond: "Re: high risk...." Previous message: DoctorJoe@aol.com: "Re: high risk...." Maybe in reply to: Efrain Ramirez: "High risk pregnancy" Next in thread: DoctorJoe@aol.com: "Re: High risk pregnancy" The concept of "high risk pregnancy" is a relatively new one, born out of a desire to separate those who need extra surveillance (and perhaps specialist care) from those who can breeze through and enjoy the process of bringing new life in the way that every one would like. The proportions are variously quoted, but my experience suggests that around 30% of pregnant women will have some "risk factor". This ought, if identified and handled correctly, to be amenable to some sort of intervention to reverse the risk, or to minimise the potential for disaster, resulting in a safe outcome for both mother and baby. If only we could get the message out that in identifying and managing in a "proactive" fashion, such pregnancies we are by no means trying to take over the "non-high risk" pregnancy, there should never be a conflict between the "home birthers" and the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist. For this to happen, those in the business of providing "non-medical birthing care" will have to be able to see in advance where the potential for disaster arises. This implies some degree of training, because it is not intuitive or instinctive to anyone, and to gain such through experience requires a learning experience which by definition means learning through mistakes. If this were not so, there would never have arisen the branch of medicine called Obstetrics, for "necessity is the mother of invention". As to the definition of a "high risk pregnancy", I offer no easy answers except to say that certain risk factors are identified and well known, including, but not limited to, the following: multiple pregnancy, hypertension, diabetes, women with cardiac disease, breech presentation after 36 weeks, previous Caesarean, previous instrumental delivery, kyphoscoliosis and extremes of age. Pregnancies can switch from being low risk to high risk and vice versa as the pregnancy progresses. stray PELLIS45@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 4/17/02 2:58:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time, > eramirezt@coqui.net writes: > >> What's the definition of a high risk pregnancy? > > If pregnancy and birth are viewed as pathology, then every woman is deemed > high risk............donning kevlar vest............ > > Pam Ellis > Doula -- Dr.S.H. Raymond Head of Department of O & G Empangeni Hospital South Africa 3880 Phone: (+27) 35-9028560 Fax: (+27) 35-7922596 Next message: Steve & Eryl Raymond: "Re: high risk...." Previous message: DoctorJoe@aol.com: "Re: high risk...." Maybe in reply to: Efrain Ramirez: "High risk pregnancy" Next in thread: DoctorJoe@aol.com: "Re: High risk pregnancy"

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