Pregnancy and childbirth is an exciting time for you and your family. High-risk pregnancy doesn’t need to be worrisome, as long as you have the right care. Viva Eve’s NYC high-risk obstetrics specialists provide complete prenatal care, including in-office ultrasound and laboratory services for women whose pregnancies have a chance of becoming complicated. Our physicians care for women with high-risk pregnancies and work with excellent maternal-fetal medicine specialists when necessary. Trust our team of high-risk obstetrics NYC doctors to keep you and your baby healthy.
What is a High-Risk Pregnancy?
A pregnancy is considered to be high-risk if any of the following situations apply:
- Medical Conditions. Diabetes, high blood pressure, anemia, epilepsy, autoimmune conditions, infection, or an underlying mental health condition are all considered high-risk.
- Advanced maternal age (over 35)
- Health History. If you have had a C-section, a low birth-weight baby, or a preterm birth in the past, you are considered at higher risk. If you have a fetal genetic condition, a family history of genetic conditions, a history of pregnancy loss or loss of a baby shortly after birth, you are considered high-risk.
- Lifestyle. Alcohol or drug use and smoking cigarettes can put your pregnancy at risk.
- Overdue. If your pregnancy lasts beyond your due date, your risk increases.
- Prenatal Complications. These include problems with the uterus, cervix or placenta, severe morning sickness past the first trimester, too much or too little amniotic fluid, restricted fetal growth, or a potentially serious condition that can occur when your baby’s blood is Rh positive and your own blood is Rh negative.
Twins and Multiples
Being pregnant with more than one baby is exciting and can be a happy event for many couples. Years ago, most twins came as a surprise. Now, most women know about a multiple pregnancy early. Women with multiple pregnancies should see their NYC Ob/Gyn more often than women who are expecting one baby.
Many factors are linked to having a multiple pregnancy. Naturally occurring factors are:
- Heredity. A family history of multiple pregnancy raises the chances of having twins.
- Older age. Women older than 30 have a greater chance of multiple conception. Many women today are waiting to have children until later in life. They may have twins as a result.
- Having one or more previous pregnancies, especially a multiple pregnancy, raises the chances of having multiples.
- Race. African-American women are more likely to have twins than any other race. Asian and Native Americans have the lowest twinning rates. White women, especially those older than 35, have the highest rate of higher-order multiple births (triplets or more).
- Ovulation-stimulating medicines and assisted reproductive technologies, like In vitro fertilization (IVF) often result in multiple pregnancies.
Your Ob/Gyn NYC team at Viva Eve will discuss the options of vaginal delivery versus cesarean section well before your due date. Your doctors will do their absolute best to follow the birth plan you put together prior to your delivery date and they will make sure that you understand that with multiples vaginal delivery isn’t always possible. Sometimes, a C-section is needed to help keep the babies safe. Most triplets and other higher-order multiples are born by C-section.
Even though every multiple pregnancy is usually considered a high risk, NYC Obstetrics specialists at Viva Eve will come up with a comprehensive plan for carefully monitoring your pregnancy and making all the necessary arrangements for safe labor and delivery.
The thought of having more than one baby may be exciting, but anxiety provoking. Viva Eve’s team of expert physicians will make sure that you get the expert prenatal care you need and a labor and delivery experience you deserve.