Pregnancy Complications Third Trimester

Submitted by Pregnancy and Baby Care team on January 27, 2012

As you enter the last stage of your pregnancy, you may notice that many of physical discomforts like heartburn, backaches, shortness of breath, enlarged breasts, frequent urination, headaches, swollen feet, etc. get worse. In addition to these physical problems, there are some pregnancy complications associated with the third trimester, like bleeding. Severe bleeding in the third trimester is a major pregnancy complication that can pose a serious threat to both, the mother and the child. Even the smallest amount of bleeding in the third trimester ...

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... should be reported to the doctor immediately. Pregnancy complications in the third trimester can develop due to:

Placenta Praevia: This condition refers to the placenta being implanted very low in the uterus, where it lies just over or close to the mouth of the uterus. As the low placenta lies in front of the leading part of the baby, it can cause life threatening bleeding. Though the bleeding is painless, the blood could be light or heavy and is bright red in color. The bleeding may also cease without any treatment, but it usually recurs a few days or weeks later.
Abruptio Placentae: The condition refers to the premature separation of the placenta, as it gets detached from the wall of the uterus and a blood clot gets formed between the uterus and the placenta. The symptoms of this problem are bleeding, back or abdominal ache, tenderness in the uterus and contractions.
Intrauterine Growth Retardation (IUGR): A fetus requires many substances to grow properly, like oxygen, proteins and glucose. The deficiency of such substances may pose a threat to the fetus. IUGR includes newborn babies, whose weight is less than 10% of their gestational age. The causes of this condition can be varied and often related to multiple factors like some medical or obstetric condition, due to abnormal placenta or problems related to the fetus.
Post Term Pregnancy: A pregnancy that goes on for over 42 weeks is known as a post term pregnancy. Almost 10% of all pregnancies are pre-term pregnancies and hereditary and hormonal factors may be the prime causes of it.
Anemia: This is one of the biggest problems faced by pregnant women in developing countries. If the levels of hemoglobin in a woman fall below 11 gms/ dl it can be termed as anemia. This problem can occur due to various reasons, the most obvious one being the deficiency of iron.
Hypertension: High blood pressure affects almost 10% of the pregnancies, making it one of the most common pregnancy complications in the third trimester.

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