"High-risk pregnancy" means even greater focus on mother and child
The shock is profound: Oh my goodness - I'm pregnant and suddenly I can see in my Maternity passport that I am considered a "high-risk pregnancy"???! Why is that? I'm in great shape! Don't be put off - the vast majority of babies in Germany, a good 97 per cent, are born absolutely healthy.
Why are there so many "high-risk pregnancies" today?
You may be reassured to know this: Nowadays, around four out of five women receive the note "high-risk pregnancy" in their maternity passports. Now the question is obvious: how is it that so many pregnant women are now categorised as high-risk patients? The answer is simple: in the past, only 17 so-called risk factors were defined, which were used to assess when a pregnancy was at risk. Today, however, this catalogue includes 52 characteristics! So you can easily imagine that the number of "high-risk pregnancies" has risen significantly due to the fact that there are now around three times as many risk factors.
If you are one of those affected, you may be worried and concerned and your initial joyful anticipation may have been dampened. I would therefore encourage you to talk to your midwife or doctor about the underlying findings and the possible consequences and to have everything explained to you in detail at your leisure.
You may find the following explanations about what this categorisation actually means reassuring.
First of all, "high-risk pregnancy" simply means that your doctor and midwife are keeping a particularly close eye on you and your child because possibly complications could occur. The emphasis here is on possibly and could. The pregnant women concerned may also be offered additional medical tests or examinations. Nevertheless, it remains their free decision as to whether or not they wish to have these carried out.
Categorisation as a "high-risk pregnancy" can also be important for the clinic in which the child is to be born. In some cases, it is necessary to prepare special protective measures for the birth and subsequent medical care of the baby in good time.
What are "risk factors"?
The following and other characteristics can lead to a categorisation. Some findings automatically lead to the pregnancy being categorised as a high-risk pregnancy. In the case of other findings, several must come together in order to speak of a high-risk pregnancy. These findings include, for example
- the age of the pregnant woman (over 35 and under 18),
- a multiple pregnancy,
- certain pre-existing conditions of the expectant mother (e.g. diabetes, asthma, epilepsy or diseases of the heart, kidneys or thyroid),
- previous premature births or miscarriages,
- Hereditary diseases in the family
- and much more.
The greatly expanded catalogue therefore covers a larger number of pregnant women for whom closer medical care is provided. In addition, more and more women are now aged 35 and over when they give birth to their first child. And the second or third child is increasingly being born after the mother's 40th birthday. This trend towards so-called "late motherhood" is likely to increase. However, "late mothers" are automatically considered high-risk pregnant women. This is because, statistically speaking, they have higher health risks for certain pregnancy-related illnesses and chromosomal abnormalities in the child. This applies regardless of how healthy and fit the woman actually is.
Nevertheless, I cannot emphasise this often enough: The note "high-risk pregnancy" in the Maternity passport does not mean that any complications will actually occur. As mentioned at the beginning, the overwhelming majority of babies in Germany end up healthy and happy in their mothers' arms after birth. This may also be a consequence of the particularly intensive monitoring of so many "high-risk pregnancies".
