Hypothyroidism in pregnancy when unidentified and treated can cause complications for the baby, because the baby needs the thyroid hormones produced by the mother so that it can develop correctly. Therefore, when there is little or no thyroid hormone, such as T3 and T4, there may be spontaneous abortion, delayed mental development and decreased intelligence quotient, the IQ.
In addition, hypothyroidism can decrease the chances of becoming pregnant because it alters a woman's reproductive hormones, causing ovulation and the fertile period not to occur during the menstrual cycle. Therefore, it is important that pregnant women are monitored by the obstetrician and TSH, T3 and T4 measurements are performed to identify hypothyroidism and treatment is started if necessary.
Risks for mother and baby
Hypothyroidism in pregnancy can cause complications for both mother and baby, especially when the diagnosis is not made and the treatment is not started or performed correctly. The baby's development is completely dependent, especially in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, on thyroid hormones produced by the mother. Thus, when the woman has hypothyroidism, there is an increased risk of consequences and complications for the baby, the main ones being:
- Cardiac changes; Delay in mental development; Decreased intelligence quotient, IQ; Fetal distress, which is a rare situation characterized by decreased oxygen supply to the baby, interfering with the baby's growth and development; Low birth weight; Alteration of speech.
In addition to having risks for the baby, women with unidentified or treated hypothyroidism are at increased risk of developing anemia, placenta previa, bleeding after childbirth, premature birth and having pre-eclampsia, which is a condition that tends to start from 20 weeks of gestation and causes high blood pressure in the mother, which can affect the proper functioning of the organs and cause miscarriage or premature birth. See more about pre-eclampsia and how to treat it.
How to identify
In most cases, pregnant women already have hypothyroidism before pregnancy, but prenatal tests help to detect diseases in women who did not have symptoms of the problem.
In order to diagnose the disease, blood tests should be done to assess the amount of thyroid hormones in the body, with TSH, T3, T4 and thyroid antibodies and, in positive cases, repeat the analysis every 4 or 8 weeks. throughout pregnancy to maintain control of the disease.
How treatment should be
If the woman already has hypothyroidism and plans to become pregnant, she must keep the disease well controlled and have blood tests every 6 to 8 weeks since the first trimester of pregnancy, and the dose of the medication should be higher than before pregnancy, and follow the recommendations of the obstetrician or endocrinologist.
When the disease is discovered during pregnancy, the use of drugs to replace thyroid hormones should begin as soon as the problem is identified, and the analyzes should also be repeated every 6 or 8 weeks to readjust the dose.
Postpartum hypothyroidism
In addition to the gestation period, hypothyroidism can also appear in the first year after delivery, especially 3 or 4 months after the baby is born. This is due to changes in the woman's immune system, which proceeds to destroy thyroid cells. In most cases, the problem is transient and resolves within 1 year of postpartum, but some women develop permanent hypothyroidism, and all are more likely to have the problem again in a future pregnancy.
Thus, one should be attentive to the symptoms of the disease and have blood tests to assess the functioning of the thyroid during the first year after delivery. So, see what the symptoms of hypothyroidism are.
Watch the following video to learn what to eat to prevent thyroid problems:
