Pregnancy is a time in your life that is very different from any other time. Your body changes constantly, with your growing baby, and you experience different difficulties and uncomfortable symptoms (such as heartburn, hemorrhoids, sciatica, etc.) you would not otherwise be effected by. Even with these uncomfortable symptoms, most women experience a normal, low risk pregnancy.

To ensure you start your pregnancy on the best side possible, you want to make sure you live a healthy lifestyle, consume nutritional foods, exercise regularly and avoid tobacco, alcohol and the likes. You can and should start taking your prenatal vitamins before you become pregnant to help your body with its needs during the pregnancy.

Even with all the care and preparation, some women will experience high risk pregnancy or pregnancies. Risk factors for high risk pregnancy include:

• Young or old maternal age.
• Being overweight or underweight.
• Having had problems in previous pregnancies.
• Pre-existing health conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or HIV.
• Pregnancy related health problems that develop during pregnancy.

If you are a healthy women, you can still develop a pregnancy related problem at any stage of your pregnancy that will make your pregnancy high risk. Some of these pregnancy related health problems include preeclampsia, gestation diabetes and preterm labor.

Preeclampsia is a condition that usually develops during the third trimester of the pregnancy and includes high blood pressure, protein in the urine and changes in the blood levels of liver enzymes. It can affect your kidneys, liver, and brain. The condition needs to be monitored and can be treated. It can be fatal for both mother and baby if it is not cared for.

Gestational diabetes is a type of pregnancy related diabetes. It is not related to diabetes, or the condition, and if treated, it will disappear after childbirth. This condition of high blood sugar usually presents no symptoms or mild ones, which include blurred vision, fatigue, frequent vaginal and bladder infections, increased thirst and urination and nausea and vomiting, and is diagnosed during the glucose tolerance test, each pregnant woman has between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Preterm labor is labor that starts before full term or around 37 weeks of pregnancy. The danger of preterm labor is in delivering a premature baby that has not yet fully developed and may not survive outside the womb. If possible, your healthcare provider will take measures to stop preterm labor.

Depending on your condition you may be on bed rest at home, or in the hospital, for part of the pregnancy. If you have any questions regarding your condition, consult with your doctor.