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Pregnancy
Questions and Answers About PREGNANCY
1. What
is the best way to determine if I am pregnant?
2. How soon should I see a physician?
3. What if I have a problem before my first visit?
4. What should I expect on my first appointment?
5. Is it normal to have spotting in the first trimester?
6. Is there anything I can do for the nausea?
7. When should I begin prenatal vitamins?
8. What medications can I take during pregnancy?
9. Can I receive a TB skin test or a flu shot during pregnancy?
10. What determines a
High Risk Pregnancy?
11. What are some of
the medical conditions that can cause complications and additional risks in pregnancy?
12. What high-risk
services does UAMS Medical Center offer?
13.
Does UAMS Medical Center work with Arkansas Children's Hospital?
14. What doctors deliver babies at UAMS
Medical Center?
Making an Appointment
at UAMS Medical Center
To make an appointment, call 1-501-296-1800 or
1-800-942-8267.
For more information about the Arkansas High-Risk Pregnancy Program at UAMS Medical
Center, call (501) 686-5847 or log onto www.baby.uams.edu.
1. What
is the best way to determine if I am pregnant?
An over the counter urine test is an accurate test for pregnancy. You can get an accurate
result days after a missed period.
2.
How soon should I see a physician?
As soon as you determine by a positive urine test that you are pregnant you should
schedule an office visit. We generally like to establish prenatal care between 6-10 weeks
of pregnancy. Due to the heavy volume of patients we see it is highly recommended that you
call for your appointment as soon as pregnancy is determined.
3. What if I have a problem before my first visit?
If you should experience a problem or have pregnancy related questions before
your scheduled appointment, feel free to call the automated voice system and a nurse will
call you back. On weekends or after hours, Labor and Delivery is available to answer your
questions. Call 686-7000 and ask for Labor and Delivery.
4. What should I expect on my first appointment?
On your first visit you will be asked questions related to your health, set a plan for
prenatal care, have a physical exam, and be tested for several conditions. These include a
urinalysis to test for bladder infection, a gonorrhea culture, and a pap smear. The
first visit is likely to last longer than any of your other visits.
5.
Is it normal to have spotting in the first trimester?
A lot of women experience some form of spotting during the first trimester. This can occur
from a routine exam, from intercourse, or from infection. It is always our recommendation
that you contact your physicians office if you are experiencing any bleeding.
6. Is there anything I can do for the nausea?
Nausea usually occurs during the first trimester and differs in severity. Nausea is
aggravated by an empty stomach. We recommend small frequent meals, drinking plenty of
fluids, and taking prenatal vitamins on a full stomach. Always consult your physician if
excessive or prolonged vomiting is occurring.
7.
When should I begin prenatal vitamins?
As soon as you have determined that you are pregnant you should begin some form of
prenatal vitamin. You can get over the counter prenatal vitamins or contact your doctors
office for a prescription.
8.
What medications can I take during pregnancy?
It is generally safe to take Tylenol, Benadryl, Sudafed, and Robitussin during pregnancy.
There are a variety of medications that can be used during pregnancy. Again, you should
contact your physician before taking any medications.
9. Can I receive a TB skin test or a flu shot during pregnancy?
Yes! We highly recommend a flu shot during pregnancy. There are more complications
resulting from having the flu versus having the immunization.
10. What determines a High Risk Pregnancy?
There are a variety of health risks that could put you and your pregnancy at risk.
Evaluation of both past and present medical history, prior pregnancy history, and family
history are all considered in determining if you are at risk.
Although it’s one of the most natural conditions in the world, pregnancy carries high
risks for some women and their babies. Approximately 10 percent of all pregnancies in
Arkansas are classified as high risk. Ensuring that these special cases receive the
special medical care necessary requires a special health-care facility. In our state, that
facility is UAMS Medical Center.
The Arkansas High-Risk Pregnancy Program at UAMS Medical Center is the only one of its kind
in the state. UAMS Medical Center also has the state’s only physicians who are
board-certified in maternal/fetal medicine, which means that they have undergone extensive
training in high-risk obstetrics and have received certification to practice this
subspecialty.\
A high-risk pregnancy is one in which the risk
of illness or death before or after delivery is greater than usual for the mother and/or
baby. Risk factors include the woman’s
age (35 years and older), multiple gestation (more than one fetus in the uterus, such as
twins and triplets), problems with previous pregnancies (including miscarriage and
stillbirth), premature rupture of the fluid-filled membranes that contain the fetus and
premature labor.
11.
What are some of the medical conditions that can cause complications and additional risks
in pregnancy?
Several medical conditions can also complicate pregnancy. Included among these
are chronic hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, kidney disease, lupus, heart
disease, epilepsy, asthma, lung disease, herpes, HIV/AIDS, liver disease, sickle cell
anemia, thyroid disease, genetic defects (such as spina bifida and Down’s syndrome)
and Rh incompatibility (a mismatch of the Rh factor in the blood of a pregnant woman with
that of her baby). Cigarette smoking, alcohol
use, and drug abuse and addiction also pose risks in pregnancy.
A common factor in many of the medical conditions associated with high-risk pregnancy
– especially diabetes, kidney disease and lupus – is pre-eclampsia.
Pre-eclampsia is sometimes called toxemia of pregnancy and occurs in 5 percent of pregnant
women. This condition is characterized by high blood pressure, an abnormally high
level of protein in the urine, and swelling of the face and hands due to retention of
fluid. The increased blood pressure develops because of an inadequate supply of blood
– and, therefore, oxygen – to the placenta. In an attempt to obtain more blood,
the fetus forces the mother’s blood pressure to go up. Possible results of untreated
pre-eclampsia are seizures, growth retardation of the fetus, premature separation of the
placenta and stillbirth.
12.
What high risk services does UAMS Medical Center offer?
While the Arkansas High-Risk
Pregnancy Program offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient services to manage
complications, it also provides several diagnostic services. Together, high-resolution
ultrasound – which uses sound waves to examine the structure and function of the
fetus – and color flow Doppler – which shows blood flow distribution in the
baby’s tissues – help the physician identify fetal abnormalities. Amniocentesis
employs ultrasound to guide a needle through the woman’s abdominal wall and withdraw
some of the amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus; these fluid samples are most commonly
used for genetic (DNA and chromosome) analyses. In percutaneous umbilical blood sampling,
an ultrasound-guided needle through the mother’s stomach and into the fetal umbilical
vein enables the physician to obtain blood from the baby; in intrauterine fetal
transfusion, blood is given to the baby by the same means. (Both procedures are exclusive
to UAMS Medical Center in the state.) Antenatal testing surveys the fetus in nonstress and
contraction-stress situations.
UAMS Medical Center’s Labor and Delivery Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
(NICU) are two more important components of the Arkansas High-Risk Pregnancy Program.
The Labor and Delivery Unit is equipped to monitor continuously patients’ vital
statistics via a state-of-the-art computer station and to handle special cases and
emergencies. For patients who need Cesarean sections or who develop problems during
labor and delivery, there are two operating rooms and two technologically advanced,
neonatal resuscitation rooms on the unit. After total resuscitation, infants who are at
high risk of complications remain in the resuscitation rooms until they are
stabilized. They are then transferred to the NICU.
13.
Does UAMS Medical Center work with Arkansas Children's Hospital?
Through its affiliation with Arkansas Children’s
Hospital, the NICU draws on the knowledge and skills of several board-certified
neonatologists. The unit has superb control over noise and lighting – factors that
reduce the chances of intraventricular hemorrhaging (bleeding in the brain), a common risk
that premature babies face.
The NICU also contains the most up-to-date mechanical ventilation equipment. At
birth, premature infants usually can’t breathe on their own. UAMS'
high-frequency ventilators that breathe up to 900 times per minute – compared to 60
to 80 times per minute for conventional ventilators – help these tiny babies
survive."
Once premature and seriously ill infants are well enough to go home, the NICU’s
two reacquaintance rooms make the transition from hospital to home easier. These rooms
allow parents to spend the night with their babies and receive instruction in caring for
them. Training includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) – an important skill,
especially since premature infants have a higher risk of developing heart problems and
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
In the University HealthSystem Consortium’s recent neonatal study of 30 U.S. academic
medical centers, the NICU at UAMS Medical Center was named as a "Better
Performer." The study involved newborns under 3 pounds, 5 ounces, who had been
admitted to the NICU due to extreme prematurity or other pre-term diagnostic conditions
(such as pulmonary, neurological and gastrointestinal complications). The study looked at
several factors, including the medical and nursing management of the infants and the
outcomes of that care.
14.
What doctors deliver babies at UAMS Medical Center?
OB/GYN Specialists
H.
Breck Collins, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology
Nancy Andrews Collins, M.D.
Associate Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology
Nafisa
K. Dajani, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology, Division of Obstetrics
David
A. Hutchins, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Curtis
L. Lowery, Jr., M.D.
Associate Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology, Director of Division of Maternal-Fetal
Medicine, Division of Obstetrics
Michael
M. Miller, M.D.
Associate Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology; Director, Division of Reproductive
Endocrinology and Infertility
Dean
M. Moutos, M.D.
Associate Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology, Director of Assisted Reproductive
Technologies
Tim
H. Parmley, II, M.D.
Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology; Division of Gynecology
Juan
J. Roman, M.D.
Associate Professor of Gynecologic Oncology
Paul
J. Wendel, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology
W.
Wayne Workman, M.D.
Associate Professor of Obstetrics/Gynecology Division of Gynecology
Making an Appointment at
UAMS Medical Center
To make an appointment, call 1-501-296-1800 or 1-800-942-8267.
For more information about the Arkansas High-Risk Pregnancy Program at UAMS Medical
Center, call (501) 686-5847 or log onto www.baby.uams.edu.
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