Important Things Every Woman Should Know About Preterm Labors

Important Things Every Woman Should Know About Preterm Labors

When the body of a woman gets ready to deliver the baby before completing the 40 weeks of pregnancy, it causes premature labor. In most cases, such preterm labors happen more than 3 weeks before the predicted date of delivery. Such preterm deliveries lead to premature babies also known as preemies who have higher chances of long term health defects, improper growth in organs, difficulties in learning and much more.

The obvious causes of premature deliveries are not identified. It is clear that poor habits and health issues encountered when the infant was in the womb will result in premature labors.

What Are The Risk Factors For Preterm Labor?

Various health disorders and external factors put the expectant mother at the risk of opening the cervix earlier and lead to preterm labor. Some of such factors can be averted whilst some others cannot be changed or averted. Obstetricians have mentioned the following things lead a woman to give premature babies:

• Women who have irregularities or congenital abnormalities in their genital tract are prone to premature labor. Few things to be mentioned include imperforate hymen, duplicated uterus, blockage in the vagina, etc. These are unmodifiable as the problems arise due to hereditary or genetic disorders.
• If a woman had delivered preemies earlier, then it would have also led her to premature labor in her next delivery.
• Women with a history of abortion also are prone to delivering a preterm baby.
• Women who have twins or triplets in her womb also have higher chances of delivery before completing the 40 weeks of gestation period. It is because problems like ruptured autoimmune membranes, placenta problems, contraction of cervix take place with multiples in the uterus.

Various extraneous things which contribute to earlier openings of the cervix and early deliveries are as follows:

• Poor lifestyle
• Smoking and consuming illicit drugs
• Mental stress and Depression during the menstrual period
• Excess of physical activities in the gestation period
• Women who conceived after 30 years of age deliver preemies.

Certain infections, diseases increase the risk of having preterm infants. Few of them are given below:

• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• Urinary tract infections
• Blood clotting problems

Likewise, problems or bacterial infections in the internal reproductive organs are also the main culprits for having a premature baby.  Such atypical conditions in the reproductive tract occur with the injury or treatments and medications taken earlier.

• Vaginal bleeding in the trimester period
• Cervical insufficiency
• Trauma in the cervix
• Abnormalities in the uterus
• Excess of amniotic fluid aggregates around the baby in the uterus. This condition is known as Polyhydramnios.

How Can A Pregnant Woman Detect Preterm Labor?

Besides the common difficulties during pregnancy, certain anomalous signs help an expectant mother to identify the earlier delivery. Common signs and symptoms of such premature deliveries include:

• Excessive pressure in the lower belly.
• More than usual discharge in the vaginal area. Such vaginal discharges also look abnormal like watery or bloody.
• A tightened like sensation in the abdomen or belly.
• Chronic back pain.

Is It Possible To Diagnose Premature Deliveries?

If you observe these symptoms before 37 weeks of pregnancy, then consult a Gynecologist immediately. You can get prenatal testing with the advanced accessories. It will help to identify pregnancy complications as well as the preterm delivery.

PreTRM test is nowadays utilized to identify whether a woman will have a premature delivery. While the existing prenatal tests focus on chromosomal irregularities associated with pregnancy issues, the PreTRM test is effective to focus on the abnormalities related to the earlier delivery even a pregnant woman shows zero symptoms.

The PreTRM test is performed by taking a blood sample of an expectant mother during the middle of the menstrual cycle. The sample is analyzed by an obstetrician to identify whether the proteins in the blood are good or not. This is because researches show that proteins are essential for normal delivery. Women with sufficient proteins in their blood during pregnancy have fewer chances of having a premature baby.

How Do The Preterm Deliveries Be Prevented?

With the periodical check-ups, one can get the safety measures, food to taken and other healthy tips for the well-being of both the baby and expectant mother from a Gynecologist.

The important thing to avert the premature labors is maintaining a pregnancy spacing. It is found that women who are conceived within a duration less than 6 months after delivery are vulnerable to have a preterm delivery.

Likewise, women who have health ailments like high blood pressure, thyroid or others should keep the infection in control. Otherwise, it will intervene in the delivery and the baby in the uterus also will suffer from such diseases.

Some other prerequisite tips for expectant moths to prevent preterm labors are as follows:

• Maintain a healthy diet. It will help to increase the protein levels in the blood.
• Keep yourselves happy and avoid more stressful actions.
• Maintain your weight because having an overweight or low weight before pregnancy is linked to early deliveries.
• Keep a space of 12 months – 18 months after a delivery and getting pregnant again.
• Avoid exposure to chemical compounds, radiation, pollution and other hazardous toxic substances.

In cased of getting pregnancy with Assisted Reproductive Technologies like IVF, it is important to ensure the considerable amount of embryos are placed. This is because preterm labors can also occur with such technologies.

Conclusion

Expecting the delivery of a small baby who is developing in the uterus is a pleasurable thing for everyone. In contrast, the organs of the little champ need to be developed completely. Hence the 40 weeks of gestation period is required for the little life.

The early delivery or premature delivery is efficient to put both the life of the infant and the new mother at risk of certain problems. Premature babies have defects in their organs as they have born before the organs are fully developed. It makes them suffer from chronic diseases.

Even though various factors including genes are linked with preterm delivery, preventing them will be possible if pregnant women maintain prenatal care and safety precautions.