Symptoms:
It can range from mild to severe and can develop between 7-30 days after infection. Most people get a high fever, chills, headache, sweating, muscle soreness, and fatigue. At the same time, others can also have nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, anemia (low red blood cell count), or jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes). It can also lead to kidney failure, seizures, confusion, coma, or death, but rare cases.

• Treatment:
  Malaria is not passed through breast milk, so breastfeeding will not give your baby malaria. The prevention of low birth weight related to malaria during pregnancy remains a priority in research. However, if you get infected and are pregnant, you should visit your doctor to avoid serious complications.

  For severe malaria caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, an intravenous drip (used to put fluid or medicines directly into a vein) medication is usually recommended. For some types of malaria, medication taken weekly until you give birth is recommended. However, not all malaria medications are safe for pregnant women, and some have associated risks. Therefore, it is essential to discuss the best option with your doctor. You cannot completely be immune to malaria, so protecting yourself is very important.

• Prevention:
  Mosquitoes that spread the infections are more active at night. To prevent infection, close all your windows and do not leave the door open when you go in and out of your room/house. You should wear light-colored clothing (mosquitos do not like dark colors), wear long-sleeved clothes, and stay in a cool room (if possible because mosquitoes do not like the cold). Remember to use mosquito nets and chemical mosquito repellents (ones that are safe to use while pregnant). You should also keep your area clean by destroying the mosquitoes’ breeding areas (still water) and emptying all containers with old water.

Once HIV gets into your blood, it will multiply and infect white blood cells (specifically the T lymphocytes). Symptoms will appear in 3-6 weeks and last for less than 10 days. Symptoms can include fever, night sweats, fatigue rash, headache, swelling in your neck, armpits, & groin, sore throat, body ache, joint pains, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. After these symptoms are gone, the virus will continue to multiply and attack the immune system until it breaks it down, which may take 10 years.

Suppose you have never taken HIV drugs before pregnancy, in your first trimester, or taken medication and found out you are pregnant in the 1st trimester. In that case, your doctor will discuss your treatment plan. Your doctor will prescribe treatment that will not affect your baby. Treatment should be started immediately. Most HIV medicines are safe during pregnancy and will not increase the risk of birth defects. Usually, pregnant women can use the same HIV treatment process as non-pregnant women. Unless, of course, if the known side effects outweigh the benefits.

Anti-viral treatments or Antiretroviral therapy (ART) focus on reducing perinatal transmission and help manage the virus to help protect both you and your baby. Medications that bring down viral load (measure the virus in your blood) help prevent it from passing on to your baby. You have to take extra precautions to avoid infections since HIV reduces your immunity. Practicing good hygiene, healthy eating, and exercise are critical to a healthy pregnancy with HIV.

The best way is not to get infected, but if you do, you need to take precautions to prevent transmitting it to your baby. As soon as you are positive, you have to start medications immediately. After giving birth, your baby needs to take HIV medicine for 4-6 weeks. 

Your doctor may recommend a cesarean (C-section) delivery to lower the risk of transmission. A vaginal delivery can be an option if your HIV is managed well and your viral load is not detectable. When breastfeeding, there is a risk of transferring. Therefore, your doctor might recommend not nursing and only using formulas. You should also not pre-chew your baby’s food.

Symptoms include fainting (blood pressure & volume changes), trouble breathing when laying down (might also be caused by the growing uterus), palpitations (rapid, strong, or irregular heartbeat), heart murmurs, chest pain, fatigue, and dizziness.

Women with pre-existing heart conditions, like chronic high blood pressure, heart disease, and high cholesterol, should carefully monitor it before getting pregnant and after giving birth. Your doctor may advise you to get regular exercise, prescribe medications or other treatments. Regular ultrasounds are needed to monitor your baby’s growth and development.  

Almost 50% of pregnant women develop heart arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeat). There are usually no symptoms and are only discovered when taking the woman’s pulse. However, symptoms like dizziness, lightheadedness, or palpitations occur occasionally. To assess the heart’s rhythm, an electrocardiogram (ECG, test that detects and records your heart’s electrical activity) or 24 hour Holter monitor (a small, wearable device that keeps track of your heart rhythm) may be recommended. If symptoms continue or worsen, arrhythmia treatment may be considered.

If your blood pressure rises suddenly, it could be a sign of preeclampsia (high blood pressure and damage to another organ system, usually liver and kidneys). Your doctor will prescribe you medication if your blood pressure gets dangerously high. 

Depending on the severity, a C-section may be required or an assisted vaginal delivery with forceps or vacuum to avoid pushing towards the end of labor. After delivery, some mothers require intensive monitoring to ensure they are recovering from the delivery.

Suppose you have a pre-existing heart condition and plan on getting pregnant. In that case, you should have a pre-pregnancy consultation with a cardiologist (doctor specializing in treating heart problems). 

Suppose you do not have pre-existing conditions and are planning or are pregnant. You should consult your doctor to start a healthy diet and lifestyle changes like exercising, limiting caffeine, and stopping smoking from risking developing heart problems.

Women experience different ranges of asthma symptoms when they get pregnant. It could be the same as before they were pregnant, or it could get worse. Symptoms can include heartburn, persistent coughing (especially at night), wheezing (whistling sound) when breathing, and shortness of breath.

Your doctor will provide you with the right medication that is the safest for your pregnancy.  The lower your asthma severity before pregnancy, the better you can control it while you are pregnant. You should regularly take your medications to reduce your asthma attack risk.

You need to take good care of yourself by keeping your prenatal appointments, regularly taking your medications, not smoking, avoiding smokers or dust, and recognizing your warning signs such as coughing, tightening of the chest, and shortness of breath.

Diabetes symptoms are the same whether you are pregnant or not. Most women don’t experience symptoms, but some may have increased thirst, dry mouth, frequent urination, and fatigue. You should talk to your doctor if you experience these symptoms. 

It is essential to stay healthy (exercising and eating healthy) and keep your blood glucose as close to normal as possible. If you take oral diabetes medicine, your doctor might switch you to insulin. You should get regular checkups before and during pregnancy to monitor your blood sugar level. Most women with gestational diabetes don’t have it anymore after giving birth. Some continue to have it, referred to as type 2 diabetes.

There are no guarantees to prevent gestational diabetes. The best way is to have a healthy lifestyle before you get pregnant. You need to follow your meal plan, be physically active, take diabetes medicines (if necessary), stop smoking, and take vitamins (if your doctor recommends it).

Epilepsy symptoms are the same for women who are pregnant and not. A woman may have frequent seizures with no known cause. In addition to seizures, the most common symptoms are headaches, mood swings or energy shifts, dizziness, fainting, confusion, and memory loss. Some women may also feel that they are about to have a seizure right before it happens.

The most important thing is to continuously monitor and manage your epilepsy with prenatal and postnatal care. You have to visit your doctor regularly, who might prescribe you medications to be taken in small doses to prevent or control your seizures. Your doctor will choose the type of medication with the least side effects for your pregnancy.

It is uncommon to have seizures during delivery, but it is possible. If you have a seizure, it might be stopped with intravenous (fluids injected into a vein) medication. If the seizure does not stop, your doctor might perform a C-section. You are more likely to have a seizure during labor if you had frequent seizures in your third trimester. Your doctor will review the best delivery method with you to avoid the increased risk of seizures during your delivery. Women with epilepsy might use the same pain relief methods during labor and delivery as other pregnant women.

There are no guarantees to prevent gestational diabetes. The best way is to have a healthy lifestyle before you get pregnant. You need to follow your meal plan, be physically active, take diabetes medicines (if necessary), stop smoking, and take vitamins (if your doctor recommends it).

Epilepsy symptoms are the same for women who are pregnant and not. A woman may have frequent seizures with no known cause. In addition to seizures, the most common symptoms are headaches, mood swings or energy shifts, dizziness, fainting, confusion, and memory loss. Some women may also feel that they are about to have a seizure right before it happens.

The best treatment is to lose weight. Pregnant women who are obese need to start a diet and exercise routine to improve their own and their baby’s health. Talk to your doctor before you begin to determine the best type of exercise routine while you are pregnant. You should start slowly and build slowly. Since your joints aren’t strong, you should start small with walking and swimming. Do not overdo your workouts because it can be dangerous to your baby. You should also eat nutritious foods and avoid empty calories like fast food, fried food, soft drinks, pastries, sweets, and microwave dinners.

The only way to prevent obesity is to have a regular exercise routine while eating a healthy and balanced diet. 

Some signs of hyperthyroidism in pregnancy include fast and irregular heartbeat, fatigue, difficulty dealing with heat, shaky hands, unexplained weight loss. Some signs of hypothyroidism include extreme fatigue, difficulty dealing with cold, muscle cramps, severe constipation, trouble with concentration, and memory loss. Postpartum thyroiditis usually has no symptoms, but it can be irritability, trouble dealing with heat, tiredness, sleeping, and a fast heartbeat.

You may not need treatment if you have mild hyperthyroidism during pregnancy. However, if it is severe, you might be prescribed antithyroid medicines that prevent too much thyroid hormone from entering your baby’s bloodstream. Hypothyroidism treatment consists of medications that replace your hormone that the thyroid can no longer make. You should visit your doctor regularly to monitor the progress of your pregnancy. Postpartum thyroiditis doesn’t usually need treatment. Although, if the symptoms are irritating you, your doctor might prescribe a beta-blocker (medicine that slows your heart rate).

To reduce the risk of thyroid disease, you should perform a thyroid neck check, minimize soy intake, have a thyroid X-ray (but be careful of other X-rays since the thyroid is vulnerable to radiation), consider supplements, avoid environmental toxins, do not go on a starvation diet, eat well, and stop smoking.

You will not have any symptoms if you have Rh compatibility. However, your baby will develop symptoms after birth like pale skin & mucous membranes (lining the cheeks and gums), limp & sleepy, jaundice (yellowing of skin and whitening of eyes), trouble breathing, and swelling of face, arms, & legs.

You don’t need treatment if you and your baby are both Rh-negative. Suppose you are negative and your baby is positive. In that case, your doctor will inject you with Rh Immune Globulin (Rhlg) (a medication that prevents antibody production) after each blood contact.

Your baby will require treatment if there is an Rh incompatibility. Treatments can be phototherapy to decrease jaundice, blood transfusions through the umbilical cord and after birth to treat severe anemia, Immunoglobulin to decrease the red blood cells destruction. Your baby might get brain damage even if s/he has been treated. The incompatibility can be fatal to your baby.

You cannot pick the Rh factor your baby gets. However, if you are negative and your baby is positive, your doctor may inject you with Rhlg before the antibodies are produced. These injections are usually administered in the 28th week of your pregnancy and up to 72 hours after birth.

Symptoms aren’t unique and can seem like regular pregnancy changes like increased respiratory rate, loss of appetite, and fatigue. The symptoms depend on where the bacteria is growing in your body. Symptoms for TB in the lungs can include severe cough (lasts 3 or more weeks), chest pain, coughing up blood (referred to as hemoptysis) or coughing up sputum (mucus in the lungs), fatigue, weight loss, indigestion, loss of appetite, chills, fever, and night sweats.

The same anti-TB drugs used for non–pregnant women can be used by pregnant women. Your doctor could treat you with a combination of 4 drugs for 6 months which includes the first 2 months (initial phase) of 4 antibiotics and pyridoxine (prevent vitamin B6 deficiency) the last 4 months (continuation phase) of treatment of 2 main antibiotics and pyridoxine. The drugs can reach the baby but have no effects. However, some TB medications should be avoided because it can damage the fetus. Discuss with your doctor to determine the safest one to use. 

You have to avoid people infected with TB, practice good hygiene,  and get vaccinated. If you get infected, you have to be treated early to prevent TB from reaching your baby. The baby is unlikely to be infected while in the womb.

There are 3 types of breech positions. Complete breech is when the baby’s butt points down, and the legs are folded at the knees with the feel tucked in. Frank breech is when the baby’s butt points down, and their legs are straight up in front of their body, with their feet near the face or head. Footling breech is when one or both of the baby’s feet point down hence being the first part of the body to come out. 

Doctors usually suggest a C-section for all babies with breech positions, particularly premature because they are smaller and more fragile. Since premature babies have a larger head than their bodies than full-term babies, they can’t stretch the cervical opening as much, making it more difficult for the head to emerge.

Your doctor may be able to turn the baby when you’re between 32-37 weeks pregnant. There are different ways of turning the baby.

•  External version (EV): this is a procedure where the doctor manually turns the baby’s position using her/his hands through your stomach. This is usually possible between 36 and 38 weeks of pregnancy. It requires two people to perform along with constant monitoring of the baby. However, some reports state that the procedure is only effective 50% of the time. 

• Inversion is a popular method where pregnant women invert their bodies to prompt the baby to flip. Some methods are the pregnant woman standing on her hands underwater, elevating their hips with pillows, or taking the stairs to help the pelvis elevate.

General symptoms include sores or bumps (genitals, mouth, or rectal area), pain when urinating’ unusual discharge from penis or vagina, unusual vaginal bleeding,pain during sex, sore & swollen lymph nodes (tissue that contains white blood cells, which fight infection), especially in the groin, lower abdominal pain, and rash on the body, hands, or feet.

STIs like chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis can be treated and cured with antibiotics during pregnancy. STIs caused by viruses like hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV cannot be cured. For some, antiviral medications are given to reduce the risk of transmitting it to your baby. 

To prevent you from getting STDs, risk of transmission, make sure to get regular checkups for you & your partner, use condoms consistently & correctly, and get vaccinated against HPV and hepatitis.