The first complication in many pregnancies is the fear of premature delivery. Such a realization increases the risk of health problems to the unborn babies. Studies have shown that more than half of all twin pregnancies do not stay up to the full term which increases the risk of miscarriage to the mother. The second complication that Teresa is likely to face is preeclampsia. This condition has been found to affect between 10 to 15 percent of all women carrying twins (Thomopoulos et al., 2013). Preeclampsia is characterized by traces of protein in the urine, high blood pressure to the pregnant woman, in addition to liver and kidney complications. Preeclampsia develops during the earlier stages of pregnancy and affects the placenta, which is a serious, life-threatening condition.
Gestational diabetes is also a common occurrence in women who are carrying more than one baby. To most pregnant women, hormonal changes make their body cells less responsive to insulin. As such, if a woman feeds on foods rich in carbohydrates, the functionality of insulin gets compromised resulting to it not being able to regulate the levels of blood sugars satisfactorily. The resultant effect is that blood glucose increases resulting to gestational diabetes. There are also chances of Teresa being affected by anemia since her blood flow has increased during the pregnancy period. Because of the increased blood flow, the iron levels in the body decrease (Thomopoulos et al., 2013). As such, there is the need for Teresa to take iron supplements in her diet to reduce the risks of the condition. Lastly, Teresa is likely to fall victim of obstetric cholestasis; a condition in which the liver gets affected. It is brought about by estrogen and progesterone levels being high. The condition is characterized by severe itching with no rashes.
The risks that premature birth places on the babies is that their body organs like the brain and the lungs are not fully developed which will, therefore, result in compromised physiological functioning. As such, when the babies will be born, they may face problems regarding coping up with problems brought about by the physiological inconsistencies. Secondly, the twins that she is carrying are likely to be affected by twin-to-twin transfusion complications which are as a result of blood flowing from one baby to the other via the placenta that they share. The recipient baby becomes healthy compared to the donor child (Linden et al., 2013). On the other hand, the donor child may face challenges like anemic conditions and heart failure because of their lower blood volume levels. Thirdly, carrying multiple babies in one pregnancy increases the chances of the children being born with birth defects. These babies are under the risks of congenital defects including heart abnormalities, gastrointestinal defects in addition to neural tubes imperfections like spina bifida. Lastly, if these babies are born before the completion of a full term pregnancy, they are at a higher risk of being born with low birth weight which in most cases is 5.5 pounds (Linden et al., 2013). The long-term ramifications that will result from these issues include; vision loss, cerebral palsy, and hearing loss.
References
Cusimano, M. C., Pudwell, J., Roddy, M., Cho, C. K. J., & Smith, G. N. (2014). The maternal health clinic: an initiative for cardiovascular risk identification in women with pregnancy-related complications. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 210(5), 438-e1.
Linden, D. W., Paroli, E. T., & Doron, M. W. (2013). Preemies-: The Essential Guide for Parents of Premature Babies. Simon and Schuster.
Thomopoulos, C., Tsioufis, C., Michalopoulou, H., Makris, T., Papademetriou, V., & Stefanadis, C. (2013). Assisted reproductive technology and pregnancy-related hypertensive complications: a systematic review. Journal of human hypertension, 27(3), 148-157.
