Take your health into your own hands

Take your health into your own hands

Take your health into your own hands

Fainting in pregnancy not to be overlooked

gravidanza

Fainting in pregnancy is an uncommon occurrence and is generally thought to be a benign, consequence-free phenomenon related to the effects of hormonal changes characteristic of gestation on the cardiovascular system. In order to facilitate blood flow to the placenta and fetus, in fact, pregnancy hormones induce increased heart rate and vasodilation, which can cause extemporaneous drops in blood pressure and/or a sudden and transient decrease in oxygen flow to the woman’s brain.

This type of fainting of a cardiovascular nature. (also called syncope), until now, has been considered a minor malaise in the young and overall healthy pregnant woman: an inconvenience that is certainly bothersome, but which passes on its own in a few minutes by lying down for a while in a quiet place, with legs slightly elevated, and taking some water and sugar and/or mineral salts.

New data, obtained as part of a research Canadian study involving 481,930 births in the province of Alberta between 2005 and 2014, indicate, however, that this is not always the case and that fainting in pregnancy deserves to be brought to the physician’s attention and possibly investigated with some targeted testing, as it could be a sign of maternal and/or fetal health problems. Especially, when it occurs in the 1st trimester.

Specifically, it was observed in the study that fainting occurs in about 1% of pregnant women and that in one-third of cases (32.3%) fainting occurs in the 1st trimester. In the latter case, women who have at least one syncope are more likely to give birth pre-term, that is, before 37 weeks of gestation, with all that this entails in terms of fragility and possible health complications for the baby in the first months of life.

In addition, among those born to mothers who had fainted at least once in the 1st trimester , congenital heart defects were more common , while the mothers themselves were at risk of experiencing cardiac arrhythmias and further episodes of syncope in the year after the baby’s birth. In-depth medical investigation and subsequent monitoring are even more important if the pregnant woman faints more than once: an occurrence that in the study occurred in 8% of women with syncope, accounting for about one in every 1,000 of those monitored. In fact, congenital abnormalities and low birth weight of the newborn were more frequently found in these cases.

Given this evidence, researchers believe that fainting in pregnancy should be considered an important warning sign and included among the risk factors for mother and baby, on par with preeclampsia (hypertension in pregnancy) and gestational diabetes.

The recommendation to undergo medical evaluation, on the other hand, should not lead to undue concern: in the majority of cases, fainting in pregnancy is indeed benign and free of sequelae; performing a few checkups is important to eliminate any doubts and/or detect early the few cases in which there might be problems deserving of treatment.

Source

Chatur S et al. Incidence of Syncope During Pregnancy: Temporal Trends and Outcomes. J Am Heart Assoc. 2019;8(10):e011608. doi:10.1161/JAHA.118.011608 (https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/JAHA.118.011608?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=oriridcrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pubpubmed)

FEATURED SPECIALISTS

  • Profile picture of Dr. Sergio Ettore Salteri
    active 4 years, 7 months ago

    Basic Doctors, Chiropractors, Posturologists

    • Via Vial di Romans 8 - Cordenons
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dr. Francesca Marceddu
    active 4 years, 7 months ago

    Anesthesiologists, Basic Doctors

    • Via del Risorgimento 49 - Pirri
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dott.ssa Anna Puccio
    active 4 years, 7 months ago

    Gynecologists, Basic Doctors

    • Via Vincenzo Ponsati 69 - Volvera
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dott. Massimo Carotenuto
    active 4 years, 7 months ago

    General Surgeons, Basic Doctors

    • Via Lepanto 95 - Pompei
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dott.ssa Francesca Vittorelli
    active 4 years, 7 months ago

    Therapist, Acupuncturists, Basic Doctors

    • Corso Andrea Palladio 134 - Vicenza
    phone

RELATED ARTICLES

How to treat encephalitis

Encephalitis is an inflammatory process of the central nervous system in which the major area is the brain parenchyma. If spinal, sensory, and motor roots are also involved, the term

The food pyramid

A new video podcast from My Special Doctor curated by Dr. Maria Chiara Villa

Nutrition during pregnancy

During pregnancy , women must meet their own needs and those of their unborn child by following proper nutrition. The balanced diet will be able to ensure that the child

How is the Advocacy model expressed?

We can imagine that among the advocacy activities conceived as social justice, the midwife/midwife is called upon to perform counseling, foster early mother/father and child attachment, promote breastfeeding, and support

Cardiorespiratory arrest in children

In pediatric age often respiratory arrest precedes cardiac arrest. The causes can be of different nature: respiratory, cardiological, neurological, from shock, from drugs, metabolic imbalances, or environmental causes. The signs

The Food Pyramid

A New Video Podcast from My Special Doctor presented by Dr. Piercarlo Salari

RELATED PATHOLOGIES

Bruxism

Bruxism is a condition in which you grind your teeth: it can happen, unconsciously, in a waking state or, more often, during sleep. People who clench or grind their teeth

Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease is an aging-related neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system, affecting about 2.5% of people over 70 years of age, which is mainly characterized by resting tremor in

Head trauma

A head injury, also called “concussion” in medical terms, consists of the violent collision of the head against a hard surface or, conversely, of a blunt object against the cranial

Emotional crisis

In current usage, the word “crisis” has a dramatic meaning, i.e., the transition from a condition of stability to a variability of previously assumed equilibria, holding homeostasis as the sole

Peyronie’s or curved penis disease

Peyronie ‘s disease is a condition resulting from an abnormality of the penis due to fibrous scar tissue that appears on the penis changing its shape during erection, which becomes

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder of the central nervous system, characterized by recurrent acute attacks (seizures), unpredictable in frequency, intensity and duration, interspersed with periods of well-being in which

Headache

Headache or cephalalgia, whether occasional or recurrent, is one of the most common disorders among people of all ages and from all parts of the world, which, depending on the

Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is a more widespread eating disorder than is generally believed and widely underdiagnosed, especially in its mild forms, which can go unnoticed unless those affected seek medical/psychiatric help

Obstructive sleep apnea

Repetitive episodes of upper airway obstruction may occur during sleep, often accompanied by reduced oxygen saturation. Such episodes are accompanied in almost all cases by snoring. Apneas often end with

Anorexia

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that causes the sufferer to voluntarily deprive himself or herself of food or to consume extremely limited amounts of food that are not compatible

FEATURED SPECIALISTS

  • Profile picture of Dott.ssa Carmela Tizziani
    active 4 years, 7 months ago

    Coroner, Certifying Doctor, Basic Doctors

    • Via Gaetano Bruno 25 - Napoli
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dr. Virgilio De Bono
    active 4 years, 7 months ago

    Aesthetic Doctors, Basic Doctors, Dermatologists

    • Via Ripense 4 - Roma
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dott. Sandro Morganti
    active 4 years, 7 months ago

    Orthopedists, Basic Doctors, Osteopaths

    • Via Foligno 6 - Roma
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dott.ssa Federica Filigheddu
    active 4 years, 7 months ago

    Basic Doctors

    phone
  • Profile picture of Dott.ssa Cinzia Maria Zurra
    active 4 years, 7 months ago

    Basic Doctors, Aesthetic Doctors, Nutritionists

    • Viale Rimembranze 5 - Triuggio
    phone
NUTRITION AND DIET
 
NATURE, SPORTS, PLACES
 
CULTIVATING HEALTH
 
MENOPAUSE
 
MOM IN SHAPE
 
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
 
HEART SURGERY
 
MEDICINES AND MEDICAL DEVICES
 
PARENTING
 
THE CULTURE OF HEALTH
 
HEALTH UTILITIES
 
GENERAL MEDICINE
 
NATURAL MEDICINE, THERMAL
 
MIND AND BRAIN
 
NEUROVEGETATIVE DYSTONIA
 
WAYS OF BEING
 
HEALTH AND SOCIETY
 
HEALTHCARE AND PATIENTS
 
SEXUALITY
 
OLDER AGE
 
CANCERS
 
EMERGENCIES
 
NUTRITION AND DIET
 
NATURE, SPORTS, PLACES
 
CULTIVATING HEALTH
 
MENOPAUSE
 
MOM IN SHAPE
 
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
 
HEART SURGERY
 
MEDICINES AND MEDICAL DEVICES
 
PARENTING
 
THE CULTURE OF HEALTH
 
HEALTH UTILITIES
 
GENERAL MEDICINE
 
NATURAL MEDICINE, THERMAL
 
MIND AND BRAIN
 
NEUROVEGETATIVE DYSTONIA
 
WAYS OF BEING
 
HEALTH AND SOCIETY
 
HEALTHCARE AND PATIENTS
 
SEXUALITY
 
OLDER AGE
 
CANCERS
 
EMERGENCIES
 
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
 
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
 
UROGENITAL SYSTEM
 
HEART AND CIRCULATION
 
SKIN
 
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
 
EYES
 
EARS, NOSE, AND THROAT
 
BONES AND LIGAMENTS
 
ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
 
NERVOUS SYSTEM
 
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
 
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
 
UROGENITAL SYSTEM
 
HEART AND CIRCULATION
 
SKIN
 
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
 
EYES
 
EARS, NOSE, AND THROAT
 
BONES AND LIGAMENTS
 
ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
 
NERVOUS SYSTEM
 

your advertising
exclusively ON
MY SPECIAL DOCTOR

complete the form and you will be contacted by one of our managers