What conditions make your pregnancy a high risk ?

Notsomindful

I had a pulmonary embolism a few months after birth of my second son so now that I am pregnant with baby #3, I am on Innohep injections and aspirin.

Does this classify my pregnancy as high risk? My gp mentioned this at my appointment when confirming pregnancy.

If so what is different regarding maternity care if pregnancy is classed as high risk?

Tia.

bovril

I'm not 100% sure but I think being on meds and things like your age contribute to a pregnancy being high risk. In most cases this means for example you can't access domino care and you have to attend the hospital for appointments. You may have more appointments than a non high risk pregnancy and you may have more scans if they need to check the baby's growth. You may also have a more monitored birth (you might be induced) and things like a water birth may not be an option. You'll probably be best asking at the hospital on your first appointment as different hospitals might treat you differently. You'll get the care you need no matter what. They'll set you straight about your pregnancy specifically. Congratulations and best of luck.

unichick

Notsomindful I would say you would be considered high risk. I'm 40 and conceived through IVF, had an ectopic pregnancy before so I'm classified as high risk. In my hospital (I'm public) there's one consultant who looks after all the high risk patients. I get seen a bit more often and more scans.

A good article here explains high risk pregnancy:
https://maternityandinfant.ie/pregnancy-and-birth/complex-pregnancies/high-risk-pregnancies/

dreamstar

Notsomindful wrote: »

I had a pulmonary embolism a few months after birth of my second son so now that I am pregnant with baby #3, I am on Innohep injections and aspirin.

Does this classify my pregnancy as high risk? My gp mentioned this at my appointment when confirming pregnancy.

If so what is different regarding maternity care if pregnancy is classed as high risk?

Tia.

I don't think that being on innohep makes your pregnancy high risk. I am on Innohep as I had a pulmonary embolism a few months ago. This was as a result of chemo as I had ovarian cancer. Even given all my history my care is the same as any other pregnancy. Only difference is that you will need to meet with a haemotolgist regularly as well as your normal doctors. So you will just have extra check ups because of that. And actually any time I'm in a LOT of women are visiting both the doctor and haemotologist so being on innohep seems very common.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Age, bmi, existing health conditions and previous pregnancy related conditions are all a factor. Care-wise, I think that having a high risk pregnancy simply means that you're not suitable for midwife led care and will have to see a doctor at every appointment.

I was classed as high risk due to a slightly elevated bmi in my first pregnancy. I then got pre-eclampsia. Because of the pre-eclampsia, I am now classed as high risk in all subsequent pregnancies even though my bmi is now normal and I had no problems with blood pressure since, even during my second pregnancy.

Lucyfur

Denver Orange Whiskey wrote: »

Care-wise, I think that having a high risk pregnancy simply means that you're not suitable for midwife led care and will have to see a doctor at every appointment.

Nail on the head there from what I can gather! I've hypothyroidism, two blood clotting issues and it's an IVF pregnancy, so for those reasons I'm consultant led and ''high risk''. My friend is pregnant and is midwife led and the only difference I can see is that I've had more scans than her, and her appointments take less time. Other than the extra scans, I think I've had the same amount of clinic and doctor's appointments as a text book pregnancy

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I've hypothyroidism as well, didn't realise that was considered a risk factor!

Yes to the appointments taking more time! A friend of mine was pregnant same time as me the last time and her appointents always coincided with mine, except she went to the midwives clinic and I was with the doctors (the waiting area is all the same in Limerick mat).

She was always in and out within an hour and I was always at least 2 hours We got the same amount of scans though, just the standard 12 weeks and 29 weeks growth scans (no 20 week anomaly scan here )

eviltwin

I had two high risk pregnancies, eclampsia on my first and pre eclampsia from week 24 on my second. They said at booking in that my age may have been a factor with my first child - i was a teenager - and that was why they let me go with the midwife clinic. When pre eclampsia developed they let me stay with midwife care but I had to visit every week and had regular scans and in the ninth month I was having check ups three times a week.

Lucyfur

Denver Orange Whiskey wrote: »

I've hypothyroidism as well, didn't realise that was considered a risk factor!

Yes to the appointments taking more time! A friend of mine was pregnant same time as me the last time and her appointents always coincided with mine, except she went to the midwives clinic and I was with the doctors (the waiting area is all the same in Limerick mat).

She was always in and out within an hour and I was always at least 2 hours We got the same amount of scans though, just the standard 12 weeks and 29 weeks growth scans (no 20 week anomaly scan here )

Ohhh it might not be...for me it's been a factor in previous miscarriages so maybe for that reason?