Intrauterine fetal hypoxia: signs, causes, treatment and prevention

Intrauterine fetal hypoxia is a dangerous process, which, unfortunately, is very common. The consequences of hypoxia can adversely affect the development of the fetus and the activities of its internal organs. From the timely diagnosis and treatment depends largely on the life and health of the future child.

Waiting for a miracle

The period of pregnancy is a very exciting and joyful time for every woman. But to the joyful anticipation of the birth of a baby added anxiety for his health. The future mother has a heavy burden of responsibility. For nine months, a new life is developing and growing in it. The health of the unborn baby directly depends on the health of his mother.

There are many recommendations on how to monitor your health during pregnancy. This applies to nutrition, lifestyle, emotional stress and much more. Failure to comply with these simple rules can lead to adverse consequences and damage the health of the fetus.

One of such consequences can be intrauterine hypoxia, which leads to violations in the development of the fetus and in some cases, the fading of pregnancy. To avoid this, the expectant mother needs to carefully study the risk factors that lie in wait for her during pregnancy, and try to prevent their occurrence.

What is hypoxia?

"Hypoxia" is an ancient Greek word, literally translated as "low oxygen". This term refers to the oxygen starvation experienced by the body or its individual organs due to the influence of certain factors.

With prolonged oxygen starvation, irreversible morphological processes occur in the human body. They change the structure of tissues and organs and disrupt their functional abilities. When the fetal oxygen starvation slows down and the process of forming internal organs is broken, the child can be born with a lag in the development of vital systems or die. These are the consequences of intrauterine hypoxia. The heart, kidneys, liver and central nervous system are most affected by hypoxia.

Deficiency of oxygen can accompany any disease or arise as an independent process, entailing the vices of internal organs. For this reason, hypoxia can not be classified as a disease, it is a pathological process, the same as inflammation or dystrophy.

Symptoms of fetal hypoxia

It is noted that in the first three months of pregnancy oxygen starvation develops quite rarely. Most often this can happen in the second and third trimester. This is due to the fact that with the growth of the fetus, there is an increase in its need for oxygen, and under some unfavorable circumstances the organism of the pregnant woman does not cope with this task.

Deficiency of oxygen in a baby is difficult to detect without conducting diagnostic tests, especially in the early stages of pregnancy. But there are some signs of intrauterine hypoxia, which should be a warning signal for a future mother.

The first thing you need to pay attention to is the activity of the fetus. A rule is about ten movements a day. At the initial stages of hypoxia, the baby begins to feel discomfort, therefore it is overly active. With a longer lack of oxygen, the amount of perturbation decreases. In addition, intrauterine hypoxia Can be characterized by frequent hiccup of the fetus.

If the deviation of the number of movements from the norm and frequent hiccough does not involve physical exertion of the expectant mother or stay in an uncomfortable position, it is required to contact the specialist as soon as possible to find out the cause of such behavior of the fetus and, if necessary, prescribe treatment.

Causes

The causes of intrauterine hypoxia of the fetus may be different. These include diseases that affect a pregnant woman, placental pathology, the introduction of infection, malformations of the fetus.

Of the diseases of the mother leading to fetal hypoxia, we can distinguish the following:

• anemia;
• Disorders in the work of the cardiovascular system;
• Diseases of respiratory organs;
• diabetes.

In addition, the baby's health is affected by bad habits, which suffer the future mother. Prevention of intrauterine hypoxia Includes a complete cessation of smoking and alcohol. To oxygen starvation of the fetus can cause any deviation from the generally accepted rates of pregnancy. Such abnormalities may be an abruption and premature aging of the placenta, a fetal repetition or an increased uterine tone.

Another factor that causes oxygen deficiency is the incompatibility of the Rh factor of the mother and child. This incompatibility can lead to hemolytic disease of the fetus, which often accompanies hypoxia. In addition to the above factors, the effect can have a mechanical effect on the fetus - cord embossing, squeezing the head during labor and so on.

The causes of intrauterine hypoxia can also be the cause of other, no less serious complications. To avoid adverse effects on fetal development, the expectant mother should be observed with a qualified specialist throughout the pregnancy period.

Types of fetal hypoxia

Depending on how long the oxygen starvation lasts, intrauterine hypoxia has two forms: acute and chronic. Acute hypoxia is characterized by a sharp decrease in incoming oxygen. The most common acute form occurs during the delivery process or with abundant uterine bleeding. Chronic intrauterine hypoxia Is formed over a long period of time, gradually disrupting the development of the fetus.

Degrees of progression of oxygen starvation

Three degrees of development of fetal hypoxia are distinguished. Initially, the fetus, not having the required amount of oxygen, tries to compensate for its lack. The first degree is to compensate for the lack of oxygen. Changes in the body of the baby are aimed at increasing the volume of incoming oxygen. The level of a hormone that increases the tone of blood vessels increases, - cortisol. An elevated cortisol level stimulates an increase in the volume of blood that circulates through the vessels, and an increase in the heart rate. The composition of the blood changes: the level of hemoglobin and erythrocytes increases. In addition, there is increased activity of the baby. He begins to move more intensively and perform respiratory movements, despite the closed vocal chink.

In the second stage of partial compensation, the protective functions of the body are determined by priority organs that are supplied with oxygen in the first place. Such organs are the heart and brain, respectively, other organs (kidneys, lungs, GIT) receive blood, poor in oxygen, which leads to violations in their development and work. Lack of oxygen also leads to the breakdown of glucose. This helps to reduce the energy reserve in the cells of the body and metabolic disorders.

Chronic intrauterine fetal hypoxia has a third stage of progression - decompensation. Externally, the stage manifests itself as a decrease in fetal activity and a decrease in heart rate. The work of protective mechanisms aimed at providing oxygen to the organs is failing. Cortisol is produced in insufficient quantities, so the blood flow slows down, and the volume of circulating blood decreases. Blood is saturated with carbon dioxide, blood clotting is disrupted, leading to blood clots and bleeding.

Diagnostic measures

The methods of instrumental diagnostics help determine the presence and extent of oxygen starvation. The first such method is cardiotocography (CTG). This method of diagnosis is completely safe. The cardiotocography device continuously records the fetal heart rate and uterine contractions. With the help of an ultrasonic chart, a tachogram is output. This is a graph that reflects the number of contractions of the heart muscle in a given period of time. The strain gauge measures fluctuations in pressure and uterine tone, displaying a hysterogram - a graph of the muscular activity of the uterus. KTG counts the number of perturbations and allows you to track the dependence of heart rate on fetal activity.

Starting with the twentieth week of pregnancy, it is possible to study ultrasound with dopplerography. This method is aimed at examining the blood flow from the mother to the placenta and from the placenta to the fetus and can detect abnormalities of uteroplacental blood circulation. With the help of this method of diagnosis, you can also determine the quality of amniotic fluid.

In addition to the above methods, the expert listens to the heart of the fetus to evaluate his work with the help of a midwife stethoscope. However, this method is inaccurate, therefore, if a heart abnormality is suspected, the doctor directs the pregnant woman to undergo CTG and ultrasound.

Treatment

Treatment of intrauterine hypoxia Requires observation of a pregnant woman in a hospital. The woman is provided with complete rest and a therapeutic method of treatment is appointed, which is directed not only to enriching the blood with oxygen, but also to identify the true cause of hypoxia. As a rule, abnormalities of the course of pregnancy, such as fetal fetal hypoxia, are the consequences or symptoms of any disease.

The doctor prescribes pregnant drugs that reduce the viscosity of blood, improve blood flow from the mother to the placenta and normalize the metabolism between the mother and the fetus. The appointment of other drugs and procedures depends on the cause of hypoxia, if it is identified, and is directed at eliminating this cause.

With positive dynamics, the patient is prescribed and gives recommendations for the prevention of hypoxia. These include outdoor walks, reduced physical activity, the rejection of bad habits and the observance of certain rules in the diet. If the treatment was unsuccessful, and oxygen deficiency persists, rapid fetal extraction is required. If the gestation period exceeds twenty-eight weeks, the doctor prescribes the operation - caesarean section.

Prevention

There are a number of simple recommendations, compliance with which will help reduce the risk of oxygen deficiency of the baby. Before planning a pregnancy, a woman needs to take care of chronic diseases, get rid of bad habits. When pregnancy occurs, it is important to register with a medical facility at an early stage. During the entire period of pregnancy, you must regularly visit a doctor, take tests and do ultrasound. This will ensure control over the health of the pregnant and the baby, and, therefore, will help to avoid the development of possible pathological conditions of the fetus.

An important aspect in the prevention of intrauterine hypoxia is the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. It takes a lot of time to spend in the open air, sleep eight hours a day, balance the diet.

During pregnancy, you need to replenish the supply of vitamins and nutrients, the level of which decreases in connection with an additional burden on the body. It is necessary to maintain the normal level of calcium, magnesium and other minerals. Especially important is the control of the iron content in the blood, since its low level leads to anemia - one of the main causes of hypoxia. Take vitamin medications should be according to the prescription of the doctor.

Effects

The consequences of intrauterine hypoxia depend on its type. Chronic hypoxia, which began at an early pregnancy, when the formation of vital fetal systems is just beginning, can lead to the formation of congenital malformations. Hypoxia, transferred on late pregnancy, can cause a delay in fetal development, and also leads to ischemia and necrosis of certain organs. A newborn baby often has a shortage of growth and weight, as well as a difficult adaptation period (restructuring the body in a new environment). In the future, the oxygen starvation experienced in the womb can cause diseases such as epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Acute intrauterine hypoxia of the child leads to ischemia and tissue necrosis. If acute hypoxia occurred during childbirth, there are several possible consequences, depending on the cause of oxygen starvation:

1. The baby's breathing pathways are not completely cleared of the amniotic fluid. In this case, the development of pneumonia, in the worst case - the death of the child from suffocation.
2. Loss of high blood volume. The newborn develops hemorrhagic shock, which disrupts the mechanisms of operation of all systems. Under such circumstances, there is a threat to life not only for the baby, but for the mother.

After the birth of a baby who has undergone hypoxia in the womb, he needs constant monitoring of qualified specialists. The consequences of oxygen starvation may not appear in the first days of life, but much later. Therefore, it is very important to monitor changes and anomalies in the development of the baby in order to identify and prevent the development of adverse effects of hypoxia.