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With any pregnancy there is a risk that something may go wrong. Most of these complications cannot be predicted. The first delivery is the most dangerous for both mother and child.
A pregnant woman needs to be checked at a clinic or health facility at least four times during every pregnancy. It is also important to seek the advice of a skilled birth attendant (such as a doctor, nurse or midwife) about where the baby should be born.
Because dangerous problems can arise without warning during pregnancy, childbirth or just after the birth, all families need to know the location of the nearest hospital or clinic and have plans and funds for quickly getting the woman there at any hour. If possible, the mother-to-be should move, temporarily, closer to a clinic or hospital so that she is within reach of medical help.
If a family knows that a birth is likely to be difficult or risky, the birth should take place in a hospital or maternity clinic. All births, especially first births, are safer in a maternity clinic or hospital.
All families need to know about special risk factors and be able to recognize the warning signs of possible problems.
Risk factors before pregnancy:
- an interval of less than two years since an earlier birth
- a girl is under 18 or a woman is over 35 years of age
- the woman already has four or more children
- the woman has had a previous premature birth or baby weighing less than 2 kilograms at birth
- the woman has had a previous difficult or Caesarean birth
- the woman has had a previous miscarriage or stillbirth
- the woman weighs less than 38 kilograms
- the woman has been through infibulation or genital cutting.
Warning signs during pregnancy:
- failure to gain weight (at least 6 kilograms should be gained during pregnancy)
- anaemia, paleness inside the eyelids (healthy eyelids are red or pink), very tired or easily out-of-breath
- unusual swelling of legs, arms or face
- the foetus moves very little or not at all.
Signs that mean get help immediately:
- spotting or bleeding from the vagina during pregnancy or profuse or persistent bleeding after delivery
- severe headaches or stomach-aches
- severe or persistent vomiting
- high fever
- the water breaks before due time for delivery
- convulsions
- severe pain
- prolonged labour.
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