What is Perinatology (Risky Pregnancy Specialization)?

Perinatology; It is a branch of science that deals with problems that may occur in the mother or baby during pre-pregnancy, pregnancy process, birth and puerperium. It is also known as an area of specialization that aims to screen for problems that may occur in high-risk pregnancies in the early period and to treat them with early diagnosis. You can continue reading our article to get more detailed information about perinatology.

Who is a perinatologist or perinatologist?

It is the name given to specialists who, after becoming a Gynecology and Obstetrics Specialist, receive a separate training for 3 years and deal only with risky pregnancy management during this period.

It is a science that does everything necessary for the diagnosis, prevention and, if necessary, treatment of complications that may arise during pregnancy.

Therefore, every pregnant woman should be examined by a perinatologist. In fact, anyone planning a pregnancy should seek counseling before becoming pregnant.

What is a Risky Pregnancy?

Risk pregnancy or high risk pregnancy; It is the name given to pregnant women at high risk for pregnancy complications.

Examples of pregnant women who are at increased risk during pregnancy are given below:

• Advanced maternal age (pregnant women over 35)

• Adolescent pregnancy (pregnancy under the age of 18)

• Pregnant women with existing disease (hypertension, diabetes, rheumatological disease)

• Obese pregnant women

• Pregnant women who experienced pregnancy complications in their previous pregnancy (Preeclampsia story)

• Pregnant women with abnormal fetus

• Pregnant women with 2 or more cesarean sections

• Multiple pregnancies

• Consanguineous marriage

• Some pregnancies formed by IVF (In vitro fertilization) method

In all pregnancies, various screenings are performed by obstetricians. We can sort these scans as follows:

• Double testing

• Triple test

• Gestational diabetes screening

• Ultrasound tracking

Although there is no problem in pregnancy follow-up, ideally, every pregnant woman should be examined by a Perinatology specialist twice (between 11-14 weeks and 20-24 weeks) in order to evaluate the risk of complications that may occur during pregnancy.

If there is a risk for the mother and the baby as a result of these examinations, the pregnancy process should be followed by a perinatologist.

What Are the Risks from a Previous Pregnancy?

We can list the risks that may come from a previous pregnancy as follows:

• The mother-to-be has had a previous miscarriage

• Recurrent pregnancy loss of the expectant mother

• If the mother-to-be had a premature birth before

• The mother-to-be has given birth to an extremely large baby before

• The mother-to-be has lost a baby in the last three months of pregnancy.

• If the expectant mother has excessive bleeding in her previous delivery

• Torn uterus of the expectant mother

• The mother-to-be had undergone fibroid surgery

• The mother-to-be had uterine veil opening surgery

• The mother-to-be has had an ectopic pregnancy before