High-risk Pregnancy

Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists of Southern California specialize in providing prenatal care for high-risk pregnancies and offer customized guidance and support for you throughout your gestation. We can answer your questions and give advice to help you protect your health and your baby’s health.

What conditions make a pregnancy high-risk?

Many factors can make your pregnancy high-risk, including:

• Existing health conditions such as hypertension or diabetes
• Maternal age of 35 or older
• Being overweight or obese
• Carrying multiple babies
• Unhealthy lifestyle, including smoking, alcohol use and poor diet

Some conditions, such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, which also make your pregnancy high-risk, develop during pregnancy, while others are present from day one.

How is prenatal care different for high-risk pregnancies?

You have more frequent prenatal appointments if your pregnancy is considered high-risk. Our practice provides a customized schedule depending on your needs. We monitor your weight, blood pressure, and abdominal growth at each appointment.

You may have additional testing and scans at different points throughout your pregnancy, including:

Additional tests for complications such as gestational diabetes

• Advanced ultrasounds
• Amniocentesis
• Genetic testing, including chorionic villus and placenta tissue sampling

Your prenatal appointments and extra perinatal diagnostic testing allow the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialists of Southern California team to monitor your health and offer expert medical treatments at the earliest signs of pregnancy complications.

What can I do to ensure a healthy pregnancy?

While some of the factors that cause high-risk pregnancies are out of your control, you can take steps to improve and protect your health. For example, you should attend all your prenatal checkups and have the tests recommended by our specialists.

Additionally, you can eat a nutritious diet and avoid substances like tobacco, alcohol and other drugs that could be harmful to your baby. We can provide advice and support to help you make any necessary lifestyle adjustments.