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Overview :
A woman with spinal cord injury can become pregnant and
deliver healthy children. However, the woman needs to be monitored for early
detection of certain complications before, during and after delivery.
Common complications that can occur before, during and after
delivery:
(1)
autonomic dysreflexia/hyperreflexia (especially if the level of injury is above
T6 and if the woman is induced with pitocin/oxytocin)
(2)
decubital ulceration
(3) wound
dehiscence (including episiotomy dehiscence)
(4) urinary
tract infection
(5) urinary
and/or fecal incontinence
(6)
anemia
(7)
thrombophlebitis
(8)
problems in weight transfer
(9)
nausea
(10)
preeclampsia or toxemia (which needs to be differentiated from autonomic
dysreflexia)
(11)
seizures
(12)
bladder stones
(13)
breakdown of a spinal fusion
(14)
cardiac arrhythmias
Peripartum
problems may include:
(1) failure
to detect labor pains
(2)
inability to bear down
(3) failure
to progress
(4)
premature cervical dilatation and labor
(5)
delivery of an infant small for gestational age
(6)
abnormal fetal presentation
(7) uterine
atony post-delivery
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