Pregnancy is a good thing and it even gets better when the pregnant woman puts to birth safely. Maternal mortality, which is defined roughly as the death of a woman during pregnancy, during labor or child birth or shortly after child birth, is still a huge problem that we constantly face in Africa. It's a painful experience for the family left behind.
IDEALY, NO PREGNANT WOMAN SHOULD DIE WHILE TRYING TO GIVE BIRTH TO A LIFE.
In order to prevent maternal mortality during pregnancy, we should be able to detect any of these danger signs if present and refer her to the appropriate center for further management.
Common danger signs include :
-Anaemia
This simply means reduced amount of red blood cells below the normal range for that age and sex. A pregnant woman having anaemia complains of dizziness, fainting feelings, palpitations, light headedness or frequent episodes of black outs. She needs medical attention ASAP.
-High fever
A body temperature greater than 37.2 'c is called fever. The commonest cause of fever in pregnancy is Malaria. She needs medical attention when there is a fever.
-Severe headaches
This may be due to high blood pressure from a condition called pre-eclampsia in pregnancy, or other causes like malaria, typhoid fever etc. There maybe associated blurring of vision. She needs immediate attention.
-Swollen legs and feet
This is called leg and pedal edema in medical parlance. It maybe normal (physiological) or abnormal which is a pointer to conditions like pre-eclampsia, cardiac (heart) or renal (kidney) pathologies. She needs to be reviewed by a skilled personnel.
-Severe abdominal pains
This may follow trauma to the abdomen, peptic ulcer disease, or antepartum hemorrhages from placenta preavia or abruptio placentae, etc. She needs expert care.
-Bleeding
Bleeding during pregnancy maybe a pointer to threatened abortion or miscarriage if it occurs before 20 weeks gestation ( before the 5th month of pregnancy) or other causes like placenta previa, abruptio placentae, trauma to the abdomen, etc. This calls for immediate medical attention.
-Convulsions
The commonest cause of convulsion during pregnancy is eclampsia which is characterized by elevated Blood pressure, leg and feet swelling, and proteins in urine from urinalysis test done. This is a serious emergency condition in pregnancy, Labour or shortly after delivery. Women who are known to have epilepsy ( seizures disorder) may also have convulsions during pregnancy. There are other causes of convulsion and all such cases must be referred to healthcare facilities that can cater adequately for them.

Written by divinehand2003 et al, October 2015.
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