Antenatal Flashcards
What is the purpose of the booking visit?
- To determine the mother’s level of risk (low, intermediate, high)
- her status can change at any time
- make sure we can optimise mother’s health
Two types of maternal death
DIRECT (haemorrhage, birthing complications)
INDIRECT (ongoing maternal medical conditions)
Leading cause of indirect maternal death
Cardiac conditions - myopathies in the postpartum period particularly overlooked
Leading cause of direct maternal death
VTE (PE), followed by amniotic embolus then suicide
Worldwide the leading cause is PPH (major obstetric bleeding is >2500mL)
How many appointments do LOW RISK multiparus/nullparous women get?
Booking (10 weeks)
Multiparous (8 appointments) - 16, 28, 34, 36, 38, 40, 41
Nulliparous (10 appointments) -16, 25, 28, 31, 34, 36, 38, 40, 41
What should be checked during each antenatal appt?
Antenatal appointment
- General maternal well being
- Blood pressure
- Urinalysis
- Fetal movements
- Fetal heart rate (auscultate with doppler or pinard’s)
- Measure and plot symphysis - fundal height
What scans will EVERY WOMAN receive and when?
What do they look at?
Every woman will have at least two scans:
- Early pregnancy DATING SCAN: 12 weeks
(Confirm the pregnancy, measure crown-rump length and give a reliable EDD) - ANOMALY SCAN: 20 weeks (look at anatomy e.g. spina bifida/gastroschisis)
Define antenatal anaemia and suggest treatment
This is something that is commonly screened for in pregnancy. Hb levels lower in pregnancy physiologically (number of RBCs increase but plasma increases even more so relative conc is lower) but if they drop <100g/dL then consider FERROUS SULPHATE
Causes of polyhydraminos?
- Maternal diabetes (causing polyuria of foetus)
- Osophageal atresia (unable to swallow fluid)
- Renal problems with baby (2nd and 3rd trimesters baby’s kidneys produce amniotic fluid)
Polyhydramnios presentation
Tight, non-compressible uterus (cannot palpate fetal structures)
High symphysis-fundal height
Polyhydramnios: investigations
USS IS DIAGOSTIC
- amniotic fluid index (AFI)
- more commonly used
- above the 95th decile - maximum pool depth (MPD)
>8cm
Offer regular growth scans and GTT
Polyhydramnios risks
- Increased perinatal mortality
- Increased risk of preterm labour
- Malpresentation (e.g. transverse lie, breech because they have more room)
- CORD PROLAPSE (bigger rush of fluid)
- PPH risk increased
What is routine screening in ante-natal period?
- Fetal anomalies (scan at 20 weeks)
- Infectious diseases (HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B)
- Rhesus negative (prevents rhesus disease of newborn)
- Haemoglobinopathies (sickle cell and thalleseamia)
What is combined screening?
What do they measure?
What do they test for?
What is high risk?
Combined screening
-Optional, offered at the time of the dating scan where crown rump length is measured (from 11 till 14 weeks)
- Nuchal translucency (abnormal if >3.5mm)
- hCG blood test (Human chorionic gonadotrophin)
- PAPPA (pregnancy-associated plasma protein A)
- detection rate of 85%
Tests for:
- Trisomy 21 (Downs)
- Trisomy 18 (Edwards)
- Trisomy 13 (Pataus)
***these will then produce a risk category (high risk = >1/150) NOT DIAGNOSTIC
If combined screening suggests woman is HIGH RISK what is the next stage? (3 options)
High risk combined screening. What next?
1. No further testing
- CVS chorionic villus sampling (from 11w) or
Amniocentesis (from 15w) guided by USS
-1 in 100 diagnostic tests result in miscarriage - Iona blood test (£ and private)
DEFINITIVE tests for DOWN, EDWARDs (18) and PATAUS (13)
What if the woman misses combined screening?
-If the woman attends for her dating scan LATERthan 14WEEKS then it is possible she might miss the window for combined screening, in these circumstances she can be offered QUADRUPLE TESTING
- can be done between 14+2 and 20+0 and involves a blood test only (4 hormones)
- 80% detection rate and 4.1% chance of false positive
Are there other options for antenatal screening beyond those offered?
There is a test known as NON-INVASIVE PRENATAL TESTING (NIPT) that is a blood test that has a very very good detection rate - not offered on the NHS
-Trisomies 13 (patau) +18 (edwards) and 21 (downs)
When does the ANOMALY scan take place and what sort of things does it look for?
Between 18+0 and 20+6 Structural abnormalities including: -Gastroschisis -Spina bifida -Heart defects -Trisomies 13 (patau) +18 (edwards) and 21 (downs)
What infectious diseases are screened for in pregnancy?
- Syphilis
- HIV
- Hepatitis B
HIV in pregnancy - when tested for and what is the risk of transmission?
If woman found, at booking visit, to be HIV +ve then we can act quickly to reduce risk of spread
- Treat mother with antivirals to reduce risk to fetus
- if woman has low viral load risk of transmission is 0.3%, goes up to 3% if breastfeed
Hepatitis B in pregnancy - when tested for and how do we determine risk profile?
Can you breastfeed?
How do we manage?
- Booking bloods
- Notifiable disease - refer to public health
- Breastfeeding is fine
- Baby given extra doses of Hep B vaccine (normal 8,12,16 weeks) PLUS 24 hours/4 weeks/1 year
Syphilis in pregnancy - when tested for ?
How do we manage?
Booking bloods
Will usually be in late-latent phase
Refer to GUM
They need to receive 4 weeks of therapy otherwise the baby will need to receive IV treatment
Other than infectious diseases, what other blood tests are done during booking visit?
Rhesus testing and haemoglobinopathies
Why do we test for Rhesus status?
If the mother is Rh-ve then she could produce antibodies to a rhesus +ve baby meaning all future pregnancies with a Rh+ve baby will be attacked and result in a termination of the pregnancy