Complications of Pregnancy

Abstract

Although the majority of pregnancies are uneventful, sometimes complications do happen. Pregnancy complications are the conditions or pathological processes associated with pregnancy. They can occur during or after pregnancy and range from minor discomforts to serious diseases that require medical interventions. They can involve the mother's health, the baby's health, or both. Complication of pregnancy can cause maternal morbidity and mortality. The most common causes of maternal mortality are maternal bleeding, maternal sepsis, hypertensive disease, obstructed labour, and pregnancy with the consequence of abortion, which includes miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and medical abortion. The primary means of preventing maternal deaths is to provide rapid access to emergency obstetric care, including treatment of haemorrhage, infection, hypertension, and obstructed labour. Proper antenatal care can reduce the maternal mortality rate by reducing the number of pregnancies among women of reproductive age. Thus, adequate monitoring and appropriate intervention strategies should be provided for better maternal and fetal outcome.