Blood diseases are among the most common ailments during pregnancy. While most of these diseases can be treated with simple methods, some can cause serious problems such as premature birth.
What Are the Main Blood Diseases Seen in Pregnant Women?
The main blood diseases that may occur in expectant mothers are Anemia (anemia), Hemoglobinopathies, Thrombocytopenias, and subgroups of these disorders. These diseases can be listed as:
- Anemia,
- Iron Deficiency Anemia,
- Folic Acid Deficiency,
- Drug-induced Hemolytic Anemia,
- Anemia due to Acute Blood Loss,
- Anemia due to Chronic Diseases,
- Sickle Cell Hemoglobinopathy,
- Aplastic-hypoplastic Anemia,
- Thalassemias,
- Polycythemia Thrombocytopenias
- Thrombocytopenias Occurring During Pregnancy
- Hereditary Thrombocytopenias,
- Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura
- Thrombocytosis,
- Thrombocytopenic Microangiopathies
- Coagulation Disorders
- Thrombophilias.
Which is The Most Common Blood Disease in Pregnancy?
The most common blood disease in expectant mothers is iron deficiency anemia. This condition occurs in almost 95% of pregnant women. The main reason why iron deficiency anemia is so common in all countries is insufficient iron intake in reproductive age.
Symptoms of Iron Deficiency Anemia
The most common symptoms of the disease include fatigue, weakness, exhaustion, not eating, exercise intolerance, mental depression, pallor, palpitations, and shortness of breath.
The most basic way to treat iron deficiency anemia is to provide iron support. During pregnancy, it is impossible to meet the expectant mother’s iron requirement with a daily diet. Therefore, iron therapy is applied to expectant mothers from the 20th week of pregnancy.
Folic Acid Deficiency
A kind of anemia occurs in patients with folic acid deficiency, an extremely important vitamin for the development of the central nervous system. It is most common in malnourished pregnant women aged 30 and over, with multiple pregnancies, pregnancy-related hypertension, and epilepsy treatment.
What Are The Symptoms of Folic Acid Deficiency?
The most important symptoms of the disease are fatigue, loss of appetite, mental depression, gum diseases, nausea, diarrhea, bleeding, and susceptibility to infections.
What is The Treatment For Folic Acid Deficiency?
Folic acid supplementation is given to the patient. Folic acid supplementation, which is continued before pregnancy and in the early stages of pregnancy, prevents developmental disorders that may occur in the baby’s central nervous system.
Hemolytic Anemia
The cause of the ailment is a deficiency of an enzyme found in red blood cells. The causes of drug-induced hemolytic anemia are:
- Usually viral and bacterial infections,
- Diabetic acidosis,
- Eating broad beans,
- Exposure to some oxidant drugs.
In the first stage of treatment, drugs or toxic substances that cause discomfort are discontinued. The patient should be treated immediately if an infection is detected.
Sickle Cell Anemia
It is an inherited blood disorder in which red blood cells oxygen-carrying capacity and life span are reduced. The disease can affect all organs. The organs most affected are the spleen, bone marrow, and placenta. In addition, pain and edema are common in damaged tissue. Anemia is increased in pregnant women with sickle cell anemia. Apart from this, there is an increase in the use of folic acid, an increase in painful crises, urinary tract infections, coagulation, and internal organ and bone pains occur.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE)
VTE, a common condition in pregnancy, is defined as the formation of clots in the veins. It can occur before birth as well as after birth. However, an average of 50 percent of patients with deep leg vein thrombosis are likely to develop pulmonary embolism.
However, this is not common in the absence of an underlying facilitating cause such as severe infection, previous thromboembolism, severe thrombophlebitis, severe varicose veins, surgical delivery, difficult or prolonged delivery, anemia, bleeding, heart disease, obesity, heavy smoking, prolonged bed rest.
Symptoms of VTE include leg swelling, pain, tenderness, discoloration, and fever. Preventive treatment can be applied if the discomfort creates a risky situation for the patient. Less common ailments in expectant mothers include lymphoma, leukemia, and Hodgkin’s. These disorders, mostly in the post-reproductive period, can cause bleeding during pregnancy and premature birth.
