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The thyroid may enlarge slightly in healthy women during pregnancy, but not enough to be felt. These changes do not affect the pregnancy or unborn baby. Yet, untreated thyroid problems can threaten pregnancy and the growing baby. Symptoms of normal pregnancy, like fatigue, can make it easy to overlook thyroid problems in pregnancy. [1]
Thyroid disease in pregnancy can affect the health of the mother as well as the child before and after delivery. [1] Thyroid disorders are prevalent in women of child-bearing age and for this reason commonly present as a pre-existing disease in pregnancy , or after childbirth. [ 2 ]
One study showed infants born to treated hypothyroid mothers had abnormal thyroid function compared to matched controls. [2] Therefore, it is advised to monitor T4 levels throughout the pregnancy in case treatment dosages should be increased to accommodate both the mother’s and fetus’s thyroid hormone requirements.
Congenital iodine deficiency syndrome (CIDS), also called cretinism, [2] is a medical condition present at birth marked by impaired physical and mental development, due to insufficient thyroid hormone production (hypothyroidism) often caused by insufficient dietary iodine during pregnancy.
During pregnancy, the thyroid gland must produce 50% more thyroid hormone to provide enough thyroid hormone for the developing fetus and the expectant mother. [28] In pregnancy, free thyroxine levels may be lower than anticipated due to increased binding to thyroid binding globulin and decreased binding to albumin.
Pregnant women who do not get enough sleep may be at higher risk of having children with neurodevelopmental delays, a new study suggests. Among mothers who averaged less than seven hours of sleep ...
Thyroid hormones play an instrumental role during the early development of the fetus's brain. Therefore, mothers suffering from thyroid-related issues and altered thyroid hormone levels may inadvertently trigger structural and functional changes in the fetal brain.
During pregnancy the plasma volume increases by 40-50% and the red blood cell volume increases only by 20–30%. [22] These changes occur mostly in the second trimester and prior to 32 weeks gestation. [24] Due to dilution, the net result is a decrease in hematocrit or hemoglobin, which are measures of red blood cell concentration.