Monday, March 2, 2009

Blood Supply During Pregnancy

Blood Supply During Pregnancy
A woman may have high blood pressure before she gets pregnant. Or her blood pressure may start to go up during pregnancy. The fetus is connected by the umbilical cord to the placenta, the organ that develops and implants in the mother's uterus during pregnancy. Through the blood vessels in the umbilical cord, the fetus receives all the necessary nutrition, oxygen, and life support from the mother through the placenta.

Waste products and carbon dioxide from the fetus are sent back through the umbilical cord and placenta to the mother's circulation to be eliminated. The blood then reaches the inferior vena cava, a major vein connected to the heart.Blood from the mother enters the fetus through the vein in the umbilical cord. It goes to the liver and splits into three branches.

If you have high blood pressure during pregnancy, you need to have checkups more often than women who do not have this problem. There is no way to know if you will get preeclampsia. This is one of the reasons that you are watched closely during your pregnancy blood pressure goes up very high in the second or third trimester. This is sometimes called pregnancy-induced hypertension.

It needs treatment, but it usually goes away after the baby is born. Heart failure sounds frightening because it sounds like the heart just stops working. Do not be discouraged by the term heart failure-the heart has not stopped beating or pumping. Heart failure means the tissues of the body are temporarily not receiving enough blood and oxygen.

there are certain women who generally have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure during pregnancy. This depends on many factors like, family history, first pregnancy or pregnancy after a long time period, age of the woman at the time of pregnancy, weight of the woman and the presence of some pre-existing disorders or diseases

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