DANGER SIGNS OF MEDICAL EMERGENCY! DO YOU KNOW THEM?

PREGNANCY EMERGENCIES

These are health problems that are life-threatening for pregnant women and/or their babies

They could be medical(i.e can be managed with drugs) or surgical(ie requiring surgical intervention) happening during pregnancy or during labour.

They could be obstetrics or others(as abdominal, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, etc).Abdominal emergencies during pregnancy may involve gastrointestinal, gynecologic, urologic, vascular and traumatic etiologies.

However, we will be focusing on the obstetric emergencies during pregnancy.Obstetric emergencies that may arise during pregnancy include: miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, placental abruption, placenta previa, preeclampsia, eclampsia and premature rupture of membranes.

👉Miscarriage

Spontaneous or unplanned loss of a baby before 20weeks of gestation. When it happens, there may be remnants of the fetus left in the mother and this serves as good environment for infectious organisms to thrive. If the woman gets infected and leaves I untreated, it may subsequently lead to other complications that may make it difficult to conceive subsequently.

👉Ectopic Pregnancy

Implantation of fertilized egg on the fallopian tube or other organs rather than the uterus(womb). Because the implantation is happening in a wrong place, it may cause tissue damage where it has implanted leading to a lot of pains and bleeding.

👉Placental Abruption

Placenta separates from the uterus before birth. The placenta is the connection between the mother and the baby. It allows for exchange of nutrients, gases and other materials through the blood. Premature separation of the placenta from the uterus causes a lot of bleeding, pain and may lead to the mother and/or baby's death

👉Placenta Praevia

Placenta is attached to the lower part of the uterus and blocks the neck of the womb. This type of women suffer a lot of bleeding during pregnancy and it is important that this is found out as early as possible to prevent labour complications.

👉Pre-eclampsia and Eclampsia

Pre-eclamsia is pregnancy induced hypertension, causes swelling of ankles, feet, face due to water retentio

If not properly treated, can result into Eclampsia (Convulsions) and other life-threatening complications.

There are 4 categories of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy.The 4 categories include chronic hypertension (CHTN), preeclampsia, gestational hypertension (GHTN), and CHTN with superimposed preeclampsia.

👉Premature Rupture Of Membranes (PROM)

When the amniotic fluid breaks or ruptures before labour begins especially in pregnancies that haven't been carried to term. The amniotic fluid and sac served a lot of functions to the growing baby. One of this is to serve as cushion to the baby by floating in it and another is to prevent ascending infections from reaching the baby. Premature rupture of this sac therefore poses a lot of risks to the mother.

All these pregnancy emergencies show signs and symptoms before the occur

Signs to look out for includes:

💫Bleeding

💫Stomach cramps

💫Dizziness

💫Severe vomiting or sickness

💫Severe stomach pain

💫Lower back pain

💫Rapid increase in blood pressure

💫Blurry vision and headaches

💫Blackouts (Loss of consciousness)

💫Decrease in baby's normal daily movement

💫Sudden swelling

What to do?

Seek immediate medical attention at a hospital. The hospital is still the best place for managing obstetric emergencies. Thank you

References:

WHO

Source:https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-015-0527-y

Source:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenatal_care

Source:https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au

sciencedirect.com