High-risk pregnancies are pregnancies that pose risks to the health of the mother and/or child.
They are due either to a pre-existing pathology in the mother, or to the development of the fetus, or to the occurrence of specific events during pregnancy.
A high-risk pregnancy occurs when the mother-to-be presents a high-risk background: a very young or elderly woman, or one who suffers from a chronic illness such as diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease....; similarly, if she has a twin or multiple pregnancy, or a particular obstetrical history such as uterine malformation or placenta acreta....
Mothers with no particular problems at the outset may experience pregnancy complications such as haemorrhage, gravid hypertension, infection (e.g. severe urinary tract infection), phlebitis or even pulmonary embolism, all of which need to be diagnosed and treated rapidly.
