You’re excited to start or add to your family, and then you hear the words, “High-risk pregnancy,” and your excitement fades just a little.
In most cases, a high-risk pregnancy simply means we have to take a measure of extra care during your pregnancy. To give you an idea about what we mean when we say extra care, Dr. Fernando Otero, and the rest of the team here at Women’s Clinic of the Rio Grande Valley, pulled together five steps you can take to better manage a high-risk pregnancy.
While we advise comprehensive prenatal care for all pregnancies, it’s especially important if we consider your pregnancy to be high risk. These regular visits allow us to monitor your pregnancy more closely, and we may recommend extra testing or screening as we go to ensure the health of your baby, as well as your own.
There are many factors that can place you into the high-risk pregnancy category, such as:
We urge you to understand your risk and take the steps necessary to mitigate the issue, if possible. For example, if you enter your pregnancy as a smoker, we urge you to quit. Quitting during your pregnancy is far better than continuing to smoke.
As another example, if you have diabetes, you need to be extra vigilant about monitoring your blood sugar levels. Yet another example is watching how much weight you put on if your pregnancy is considered high-risk due to obesity.
Of course, there are factors on the list above which you can’t control, such as age or multiples. In these cases, simply follow our guidelines for offsetting any potential problems associated with these risk factors.
Pregnancy can be stressful, but when you hear the words, “high risk,” it may add to your anxiety. Please do everything in your power to stay relaxed during your pregnancy. Activities like reading, meditation, yoga, and deep-breathing techniques can go a long way toward making you feel more relaxed.
Your body undergoes dramatic changes during your pregnancy, so it may be hard to tell when a change is “normal” or not. We recommend that you listen to your body and use common sense. If you’re spotting, for example, please let us know. As well, if you’re experiencing pain or discomfort, we want to hear about it.
No problem is too small, and we urge you to discuss any change or event that doesn’t seem quite right.
This last tip applies to any pregnancy — practice healthy habits. During your pregnancy, follow our dietary guidelines and skip the empty calories (junk food) and choose more nutrient-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
If we’ve given you the greenlight to exercise, please get up and move, as it’s a great way to keep your cardiovascular system running smoothly. If, however, we ask that you refrain from exercise, please follow these recommendations.
Finally, it’s terribly important that you get enough sleep, so be sure to carve out uninterrupted time to snooze at night, and feel free to take a nap during the day when the feeling hits.
Rest assured, we’re with you every step of the way, and we’re here to help. If you have more questions about navigating your high-risk pregnancy, contact one of our two offices in McAllen and Edinburg, Texas.
