Located in the neck, your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland. It is a gland’s job to produce the materials your body needs to function properly. Hormones (chemicals) produced by the thyroid have a significant impact on your overall well-being. A good illustration of this is how thyroid hormones may impact your heart rate and metabolism (how well and fast your body processes what you eat and drink).
Certain hormones can be produced in excess or deficiency by the thyroid gland. When this occurs, you are suffering from a thyroid condition. Prior to pregnancy, some women are diagnosed with a thyroid problem (also called a pre-existing condition). There are some women who develop thyroid issues during or soon after pregnancy.
Thyroid disorders can be managed successfully such that they do not create complications in a pregnant woman. However, untreated thyroid issues might pose a risk to you and your unborn child during and after pregnancy.
What are the most common types of thyroid disorders?
There are two basic types of thyroid disease: hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.
Hyperthyroidism – A condition characterised by excessive hyperthyroidism. In this condition, the thyroid is hyperactive, resulting in the production of excessive amounts of thyroid hormone. Many of your body’s activities might speed up as a result of this disease. A condition known as Graves’ disease is the most common cause of pregnancy-induced hyperthyroidism. Antibodies (the cells in the body that fight off infections) can mistakenly attack healthy tissue, leading to autoimmune illnesses. As a result, your thyroid produces too much thyroid hormone if you have Graves’ illness. Hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of morning sickness, has been associated to hyperthyroidism in some cases (excessive nausea and vomiting during pregnancy). Thyroid nodules are an uncommon cause of hyperthyroidism. These are thyroid nodules that produce an excess of thyroid hormone.
- Hypothyroidism (hypo implies under or underactive). Your body’s processes slow down when your hypothyroidism is causing your thyroid to be underactive. Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune condition, is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in pregnant women. There are antibodies made by our bodies that target our thyroid and destroy it, resulting in a lack of thyroid hormone production when we have the condition Hashimoto’s.
Treating a thyroid disorder during pregnancy can help you have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.
Is there a way to identify a thyroid problem when pregnant?
Prior to or during pregnancy, health care professionals don’t often do a thyroid test unless you are at high risk of developing a thyroid disorder or you exhibit symptoms of one. The sooner you inform your healthcare practitioner if you’re experiencing any symptoms of a thyroid disorder, the better your chances of getting treatment. Someone else can tell you whether you’re suffering from a medical illness by looking at you or hearing you sneeze or cough. Symptoms are the things that you experience on your own, such as a sore throat or dizziness. Thyroid disease symptoms might arise gradually over time. If you experience one of these symptoms, it doesn’t necessarily signify that you have a thyroid disease.
Thyroid disorders are detected by a physical examination and blood tests performed by your healthcare professional. The blood test detects the levels of thyroid hormones and TSH (also known as TSH) in your body. It is the TSH that instructs your thyroid gland to produce thyroid-stimulating hormones (thyroxine). Ask your doctor about thyroid testing if you suspect you have a problem.
When pregnant, are you at risk for developing a thyroid disorder?
• Pregnant women who have thyroid nodules or a goitre are at a greater risk of developing a thyroid disorder than those who do not. A swelling thyroid gland, known as a goitre, can give the appearance of a bloated neck.
• In the past, you’ve been diagnosed with thyroid disease, or you had a kid with thyroid disease.
• A family history of thyroid autoimmune illness such as Graves’ or Hashimoto’s disease or an autoimmune ailment. Having a genetic predisposition implies that the illness is passed down via your family (people in your family have or have had the condition). Please fill out and submit the March of Dimes Family Health History Form.
• You can use the form to keep track of any health illnesses or treatments that you, your spouse, and your family members have undergone. Pregnancy can assist your healthcare practitioner detect any health issues that could harm your pregnancy. Ask your doctor about testing if you have a family history of thyroid or autoimmune disorders.
• As a diabetic, I have type 1. Diabetes is a medical disorder characterised by an excess of the sugar in your blood (glucose). There are two types of preexisting diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. A person’s pancreas ceases to produce insulin if they have type 1 diabetes. Insulin is a hormone that aids in the maintenance of a healthy blood glucose level.
• Have had high-dose radiation to the neck or hyperthyroidism treatments. The energy that is emitted by a source is referred to as radiation. Airborne rays or particles carry it.
What are signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism?
Untreated or incorrectly managed hyperthyroidism has been connected to issues in pregnant mothers and their newborns as well as postpartum.
Women’s issues may include:
• Preeclampsia. After the 20th week of pregnancy or shortly after childbirth, this dangerous rise in blood pressure might occur (also called postpartum preeclampsia). High blood pressure and indicators that the kidneys or liver are not functioning correctly are symptoms of hypertension in women. When you have high blood pressure, your arteries are pushed against by the force of blood. In the body, arteries and capillaries transport blood out from the heart. High blood pressure (also known as hypertension) occurs when the force of blood on the blood vessel walls is excessive. When you’re pregnant, it can put a lot of strain on your heart, which might lead to complications.
• Hypertension in the lungs. High blood pressure that occurs in the arteries of the lungs and on the right side of the heart is known as pulmonary hypertension.
• Abruption of the placenta. Prior to delivery, the placenta can split from the uterine wall, causing major complications. In the pregnancy, the placenta develops and provides the baby with food and oxygen via the umbilical cord.
• A heart attack. When your heart isn’t able to adequately pump blood to the rest of your body, this condition occurs.
• Thyroid storms. • This is the point at when your symptoms begin to worsen dramatically. It’s a very unusual, yet extremely dangerous, syndrome that can occur during the course of pregnancy. Thyroid storm during pregnancy increases the risk of heart failure in pregnant women.
• Babies can face a variety of issues, such as:
• Infant mortality. This is a birth that occurs before 37 weeks of pregnancy, which is considered premature.
• Goiter
• Low birth weight Premature births occur when a newborn weighs less than 5 pounds and 8 ounces when they are born.
• Concerns with the thyroid. During pregnancy, antibodies that cause Graves’ illness pass via the placenta. Pregnant women with Graves’ illness are more likely to give birth to a child with thyroid problems. There is a chance that your unborn child will be born with Graves’ disease if you underwent radioactive iodine therapy for Graves’ disease before becoming pregnant.
Pregnancy with hypothyroidism: what are the implications?
• Pregnant women with hypothyroidism are more likely to have complications during and after childbirth if their condition is not managed.
• Anemia is one of the most common health issues for women. Insufficient healthy red blood cells are needed to transport oxygen to the remainder of the body under this condition.
• Pregnancy hypertension Pregnancy-induced hypertension (HBP) occurs after the 20th week of pregnancy and subsides after delivery.
• Preeclampsia
• Abruption of the uterine lining
• Hemorrhage after childbirth (also called PPH). When a woman has significant postpartum bleeding, this is what she should do. Though rare, this condition is severe. However, this can take place up to a month or more following the birth of the child and is most common within the first 24 hours.
• There is a disorder known as myxedema, which can induce coma and death if it isn’t treated for hypothyroidism.
• A heart attack. When your heart isn’t pumping blood as efficiently as it should, this is known as angina. Hypothyroidism-induced heart failure is extremely rare.
• Babies can face a variety of issues, such as:
• One of the most common symptoms of hypothyroidism in infants is the development of infantile myxedema. It can lead to dwarfism, mental retardation, and other health issues. Short people (sometimes known as dwarfs) are a kind of dwarfism (less than 4 feet 10 inches as an adult). Intellectual impairment is characterised by a lower-than-average IQ and a dearth of daily living abilities.
• Low birth weight
• Brain and nervous system development problems. The brain, spinal cord, and nerves make up the nervous system. Your nervous system aids in movement, thought, and emotion. Babies with untreated hypothyroidism, particularly in the first trimester, are at risk for intellectual retardation.
People Also Search
Can a thyroid problem cause a miscarriage?
In order for your body to function, your thyroid produces hormones that it produces. If your body produces too few or too many of these hormones during pregnancy, you may have issues. Premature birth, miscarriage, and stillbirth are all connected to untreated thyroid issues during pregnancy.
What thyroid level can cause miscarriage?
TSH levels between 2.5 and 4.87 mIU/L increased the chance of miscarriage, with TSH levels more than 4.87 mIU/L raising the risk even further.
Can thyroid medication prevent miscarriage?
Few studies have shown that thyroxine medication may reduce the number of miscarriages when administered early in pregnancy in the prevention of miscarriage.
Can thyroid cause recurrent miscarriage?
Infertility and miscarriage are common side effects of untreated thyroid disorder (hypo- or hyperthyroidism), which is difficult to regulate. The risk of miscarriage is increased by excess thyroid hormone regardless of the mother’s metabolic abnormalities.”
