Hypothyroidism during pregnancy

One of the statistics says that about 1 in 500-700 women will have hypothyroidism during pregnancy. In some of them, it might be preexisting condition and in others, it might get developed during the tenure of the pregnancy. It might be difficult to diagnose the hypothyroidism since the pregnancy oftentimes masks the condition. This means, pregnancy has some of the symptoms that resemble to hypothyroidism and hence, a patient and sometimes even the general practitioner may skip the underlying cause.

For over 100 years, health experts have been in their deep research to link between mothers with hypothyroidism during pregnancy and the condition that their children will develop after birth. The children may have developmental retardation those are born to mother suffering from hypothyroidism. Pregnant patients with untreated hypothyroidism are at higher risk of obstetric complications.

Enough amounts of thyroid hormones greatly reduce other complications that can be caused during pregnancy. Observational studies reveal that children whose mothers had hypothyroidism or hypothyroxinemia in early pregnancy will have lower IQ levels as compared to matched controls.

Hypothyroidism occurring during the pregnancy is a common problem especially in US. A nation-wide surveys have shown that 4.6% of the population 12 year old and older had hypothyroidism and those 4.3% of all women suffered from hypothyroidism or goiter or were taking some thyroid controlling medications. Routine prenatal screening revealed that 2.2% of pregnant women in their 2nd trimester had thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels at or above 6 mU/L.

Pregnant women with hypothyroidism are likely to have major complications during pregnancy such as fetal death, placental abruption, gestational hypertension and poor perinatal outcome. According to a study published in the Journal of Medical Screening, a special publication of the British Medical Journal reveals that pregnant women with hypothyroidism (under-active thyroid) have four-time higher risk for miscarriage during their second trimester.

Hypothyroidism definitely affects the fetal growth inside the womb and child’s growth once he or she is born. Many findings suggest that early detection and treatment for hypothyroidism of a pregnant lady during her conception might be an important factor in the intelligence and wellbeing of her child.

Thyroid is a gland that is situated in the neck and produces a hormone instrumental to plenty of body’s mechanisms. Hypothyroidism is a condition wherein the gland doesn’t produce enough hormones. Signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism include tiredness even after a little work, feeling energy-less, coarse and brittle hair, thick and coarse skin and a lowering of the metabolic rate.

Doctors find out the woman having hypothyroidism by performing a simple blood test that measures levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) i.e. serum thyrotropin. High TSH levels are indications or warnings that the thyroid is not functioning well or adequately. The condition can be treated with supplementation of the thyroid hormone from outside in the form of pills.

Pregnancy is the period that is to be taken care about. Any little ailment can turn into major complications and hence, it is advisable that hypothyroidism is to be treated with caution to pass pregnancy having happy ending.

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