What impact does hypothyroidism have on pregnancy?

Many people may not have come into contact with hypothyroidism in their daily lives, and they don’t have a particularly good understanding of this disease. In fact, hypothyroidism is what we call hypothyroidism. If a woman develops hypothyroidism during pregnancy, it will also affect the child. If a pregnant woman suffers from hypothyroidism, she must actively seek treatment and must not be careless. Hypothyroidism has a great impact on babies and pregnant women. The following introduces the impact of hypothyroidism on pregnancy.

Hypothyroidism during pregnancy increases adverse risks

What impact does hypothyroidism during pregnancy have on the fetus? For pregnant women, clinical hypothyroidism during pregnancy can increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as premature birth, miscarriage, placental abruption, low birth weight, etc. At the same time, it can also affect the baby's intellectual development, neurological reaction ability and motor ability.

This is because the thyroid gland is an important endocrine organ in the human body. The thyroid hormone it secretes is involved in the body's growth and development and the metabolic regulation of various organ systems. It is also a hormone necessary for the development of the fetal brain nerves.

Before 20 weeks of pregnancy is the first stage of rapid brain development of the fetus. However, because the fetus does not begin to secrete thyroid hormone until 12 weeks of pregnancy, thyroid function does not begin to be fully established until 20 weeks.

Therefore, before 20 weeks of pregnancy, the thyroid hormone required for fetal growth and development is almost entirely supplied by the mother. During this period, if the mother's own thyroid function is normal, it can ensure that sufficient thyroid hormone is delivered to the fetus through the placenta to meet the fetus's first period of rapid brain development.

However, due to the increased physiological demand of the mother for thyroid hormones during pregnancy, if the thyroid gland cannot adapt well to the corresponding changes during pregnancy under this "stress" state, pregnancy-related hypothyroidism may occur.

At any stage of pregnancy, if the mother's thyroid hormone decreases, even a slight or short-term decrease, it can affect the brain development of the fetus to varying degrees, and this damage is often irreversible, manifesting as short stature and mental retardation in children, commonly known as "cretinism."

Hypothyroidism in pregnant women will have an impact on the fetus, so we should treat hypothyroidism before we get pregnant. Even if it cannot be cured, we must treat it to minimize the impact on the fetus, so that we will not feel distressed about it. Therefore, in order not to affect the baby, we should do all the examinations before pregnancy.