Global InformationComplications of pregnancy information
| Complications of pregnancy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 810 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. 94% occur in low and lower middle-income countries. | |
| Specialty | Obstetrics |
| Complications | Numerous biological and environmental complications |
| Risk factors | Numerous biological and environmental conditions |
Complications of pregnancy are health problems that are related to, or arise during pregnancy. Complications that occur primarily during childbirth are termed obstetric labor complications, and problems that occur primarily after childbirth are termed puerperal disorders. While some complications improve or are fully resolved after pregnancy, some may lead to lasting effects, morbidity, or in the most severe cases, maternal or fetal mortality.[1][2][3]
Common complications of pregnancy include anemia, gestational diabetes, infections, gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia.[4][5] Presence of these types of complications can have implications on monitoring lab work, imaging, and medical management during pregnancy.[4]
Severe complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium are present in 1.6% of mothers in the US,[6] and in 1.5% of mothers in Canada.[7] In the immediate postpartum period (puerperium), 87% to 94% of women report at least one health problem.[8][9] Long-term health problems (persisting after six months postpartum) are reported by 31% of women.[10]
In 2016, complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium resulted globally in 230,600 deaths, down from 377,000 deaths in 1990. The most common causes of maternal mortality are maternal bleeding, postpartum infections including sepsis, hypertensive diseases of pregnancy, obstructed labor, and unsafe abortion.[11][12]
Complications of pregnancy can sometimes arise from abnormally severe presentations of symptoms and discomforts of pregnancy, which usually do not significantly interfere with activities of daily living or pose any significant threat to the health of the birthing person or fetus. For example, morning sickness is a fairly common mild symptom of pregnancy that generally resolves in the second trimester, but hyperemesis gravidarum is a severe form of this symptom that sometimes requires medical intervention to prevent electrolyte imbalances from severe vomiting.
- ^ Stevens, Gretchen A; Finucane, Mariel M; De-Regil, Luz Maria; Paciorek, Christopher J; Flaxman, Seth R; Branca, Francesco; Peña-Rosas, Juan Pablo; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Ezzati, Majid (2013-07-01). "Global, regional, and national trends in haemoglobin concentration and prevalence of total and severe anaemia in children and pregnant and non-pregnant women for 1995–2011: a systematic analysis of population-representative data". The Lancet Global Health. 1 (1): e16–e25. doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(13)70001-9. ISSN 2214-109X. PMC 4547326. PMID 25103581.
- ^ Lozano, Rafael; Naghavi, Mohsen; Foreman, Kyle; Lim, Stephen; Shibuya, Kenji; Aboyans, Victor; Abraham, Jerry; Adair, Timothy; Aggarwal, Rakesh; Ahn, Stephanie Y; AlMazroa, Mohammad A; Alvarado, Miriam; Anderson, H Ross; Anderson, Laurie M; Andrews, Kathryn G (2012-12-15). "Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010". The Lancet. 380 (9859): 2095–2128. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(12)61728-0. hdl:10292/13775. ISSN 0140-6736. PMC 10790329. PMID 23245604.
- ^ Liu, Li; Johnson, Hope L; Cousens, Simon; Perin, Jamie; Scott, Susana; Lawn, Joy E; Rudan, Igor; Campbell, Harry; Cibulskis, Richard; Li, Mengying; Mathers, Colin; Black, Robert E (2012-06-09). "Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality: an updated systematic analysis for 2010 with time trends since 2000". The Lancet. 379 (9832): 2151–2161. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(12)60560-1. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 22579125.
- ^ a b Obstetrics and gynecology. Charles R. B. Beckmann, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (6th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 2010. ISBN 978-0-7817-8807-6. OCLC 298509160.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ O'Toole, F.E; Hokey, E.; McAuliffe, F.M; Walsh, J.M (2024-06-01). "The Experience of Anaemia and Ingesting Oral Iron Supplementation in Pregnancy: A Qualitative Study". European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. 297: 111–119. doi:10.1016/j.ejogrb.2024.03.005. ISSN 0301-2115. PMID 38608353.
- ^ "Severe Maternal Morbidity in the United States". CDC. Archived from the original on 2015-06-29. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
- ^ "Severe Maternal Morbidity in Canada" (PDF). The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
- ^ Glazener CM, Abdalla M, Stroud P, Naji S, Templeton A, Russell IT (April 1995). "Postnatal maternal morbidity: extent, causes, prevention and treatment". British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 102 (4): 282–287. doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.1995.tb09132.x. PMID 7612509. S2CID 38872754.
- ^ Thompson JF, Roberts CL, Currie M, Ellwood DA (June 2002). "Prevalence and persistence of health problems after childbirth: associations with parity and method of birth". Birth. 29 (2): 83–94. doi:10.1046/j.1523-536X.2002.00167.x. PMID 12051189.
- ^ Borders N (2006). "After the afterbirth: a critical review of postpartum health relative to method of delivery". Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health. 51 (4): 242–248. doi:10.1016/j.jmwh.2005.10.014. PMID 16814217.
- ^ Naghavi, Mohsen; et al. (GBD 2016 Causes of Death Collaborators) (September 2017). "Global, regional, and national age-sex specific mortality for 264 causes of death, 1980-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016". Lancet. 390 (10100): 1151–1210. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32152-9. PMC 5605883. PMID 28919116.
- ^ Say L, Chou D, Gemmill A, Tunçalp Ö, Moller AB, Daniels J, et al. (June 2014). "Global causes of maternal death: a WHO systematic analysis". The Lancet. Global Health. 2 (6): e323–e333. doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(14)70227-x. hdl:1854/LU-5796925. PMID 25103301.