A high-risk pregnancy is a pregnancy that involves increased health risks for the pregnant person, fetus or both. Certain health conditions and your age (being over 35 or under 17 when pregnant) can make a pregnancy high risk. These pregnancies require close monitoring to reduce the chance of complications.
Normal labor usually begins within 2 weeks (before or after) the estimated delivery date. In a first pregnancy, labor usually lasts 12 to 18 hours on average; subsequent labors are often shorter, averaging 6 to 8 hours. Management of complications during labor requires additional measures (eg, induction of labor).
Antenatal care is the care you get from health professionals during your pregnancy. It's sometimes called pregnancy care or maternity care. You'll be offered appointments with a midwife, or sometimes a doctor who specialises in pregnancy and birth (an obstetrician).
The use of drugs, devices, or surgery to prevent pregnancy. There are many different types of contraception. These include barrier methods to keep sperm from fertilizing the egg, hormone methods, intrauterine devices (IUDs), and surgery to close the fallopian tubes in women or close off the two tubes that carry sperm out of the testicles in men. Also called birth control.
Management of infertility ranges from counseling and advice to medications and surgery. Counseling of both partners is an important aspect in the management of infertility with medical and psychological support to the couple.
Pelvic pain can happen in both men and women and might stem from infections, abnormalities in internal organs or pain from the pelvic bones. In women, pelvic pain might be related to the reproductive system. Treatment depends upon the cause.
Irregular menstruation can have causes that aren't due to underlying disease. Examples include family history of irregular menstruation, menopause or menarche, physical stress, psychological stress, smoking or medication side effects.
Menopause is the time that marks the end of your menstrual cycles. It's diagnosed after you've gone 12 months without a menstrual period. Menopause can happen in your 40s or 50s, but the average age is 51 in the United States. Menopause is a natural biological process.
A viability scan is a prenatal ultrasound performed during early pregnancy to confirm the presence of a viable embryo or fetus. Typically conducted around 6-10 weeks gestation, it assesses fetal heartbeat, gestational sac size, and embryo development. This scan helps detect potential pregnancy complications such as miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. It provides reassurance to expectant parents and guides further medical management if necessary.