Can tachycardia affect labor?

Tachycardia is caused by a violation of the heart rhythm. This heart disease is accompanied by increased heart rate (heart rate), which is just one of the many symptoms of tachycardia. Tachycardia during pregnancy is one of the most common problems due to the increased load on the heart and the circulatory system as a whole. Inattention to this disease during pregnancy can lead to complications of varying severity, as well as become a serious obstacle to natural childbirth. Nevertheless, tachycardia and childbirth are not mutually exclusive concepts, and this ailment does not interfere with pregnancy and childbirth.

Types of disease

Tachycardia is the result of increased work of the heart muscles and the circulatory and vascular systems. During pregnancy, when the body works for two, the strongest load on the heart can cause the development of tachycardia, which happens in 45% of all cases of the disease.

It is worth noting that tachycardia in itself is not an independent disease. As a rule, this ailment is a concomitant disease against the background of a more serious pathology of the internal organs.

There are the following types of tachycardia:

1. Physiological tachycardia. This form of the disease is caused at times of increased physical or emotional stress. In this case, an attack of cardiac arrhythmias passes by itself when the body comes to a state of rest.
2. Pathological arrhythmia. The disease becomes chronic as a result of the development of concomitant diseases of the internal organs, as well as constant arrhythmia or prolonged depression, disorders of the nervous and vegetative vascular systems.
3. Sinus tachycardia. External or internal disturbance in the work of the sinus node. This node is located in the wall of the right atrium, and is a small formation that sets the rhythm of contractions of both atria.
4. Paroxysmal tachycardia. With this type of disease, the heart rhythm is normal, while the pulse reaches 220 beats per minute. In turn, paroxysmal tachycardia is divided into atrial, ventricular and nodal.
5. Tachycardia in pregnant women or tachycardia in children in the womb. This type of tachycardia is associated with an increased load on the heart of the mother's body at the time of bearing the child.

Symptoms of tachycardia during pregnancy

An attack of tachycardia during pregnancy cannot always be diagnosed in time precisely as a violation of the heart rhythm. Especially in the last stages of pregnancy (third trimester), when expectant mothers have high blood pressure as a result of edema, excess weight, or just excitement before childbirth. And yet, do not confuse these borderline conditions and tachycardia, which can cause serious harm not only to the mother, but also to the baby.

• rapid pulse;
• swelling of the limbs, in which control over them is lost;
• nausea and vomiting not associated with toxicosis or various food poisonings;
• increased anxiety, growing anxiety;
• short-term loss of consciousness;
• fatigue, feeling tired and lethargic.

 Causes of tachycardia in pregnant women

The main cause of tachycardia during pregnancy is a complication such as preeclampsia. The manifestation of preeclampsia is typical for the vast majority of pregnant women and is accompanied by swelling of the extremities, increased blood pressure and loss of protein with urine output.

The paroxysmal type of tachycardia is most often caused by pathologies in the structure of the mother's heart, the presence of defects and other problems with the work of the right and left atria and myocardium.

• Iron-deficiency anemia;
• respiratory diseases, inflammation in the organs of the bronchopulmonary system and asthma;
• allergy to drugs;
• overweight;
• increase in body temperature;
• injuries of a different nature;
• sepsis (spread of an infectious disease through the blood.

During pregnancy, it is necessary to be regularly observed by specialists, especially if the pregnancy is aggravated by any pathologies.

Natural childbirth and tachycardia

When collecting an anamnesis at medical examinations, a gynecologist develops a certain picture about the state of a woman's health. Natural childbirth is always a risk, even if the pregnancy was normal.

1. If attacks of tachycardia are caused by pregnancy itself and are not accompanied by serious diseases of the internal organs and heart, the woman in labor is allowed to give birth to a child without resorting to surgical intervention.
2. If tachycardia manifested itself as a result of the development of other serious diseases, or is accompanied by asthma, disorders of the nervous and vegetovascular systems, then it is recommended to give birth by caesarean section. With sinus tachycardia, giving birth alone is allowed only in 10% of cases, since there is a violation of one of the components of the heart rhythm. If the pulse returns to normal, there is a chance to give birth on their own. Paroxysmal tachycardia is temporary. The council can take responsibility for a successful delivery, but only after receiving the approval of a cardiologist.

A planned caesarean section eliminates various risks during childbirth. Attacks of tachycardia are under the control of a cardiologist, as in the case of natural childbirth.

 Recommendations for tachycardia in pregnant women

The danger of natural childbirth with tachycardia is that during childbirth the heart works very intensively, and in the period between them it relaxes, which can cause a sharp drop in blood pressure, which means causing an attack of tachycardia.

1. To make childbirth easier, with tachycardia, it is recommended that this process be carried out either in the position of the woman in labor sitting or lying on her left side. The latter option is the most favorable, as the pressure exerted during childbirth is reduced.
2. After the baby has entered the birth canal, the woman is given a certain amount of special medicines that control the level of oxygen in order to avoid fetal hypoxia.
3. Childbirth is recommended to be carried out in specialized maternity hospitals and perinatal centers, where there are cardiologists who are familiar with the problem of childbirth in case of tachycardia in the mother.
4. After childbirth, a woman is not recommended to become pregnant and give birth to children for at least 3-4 years, so that the heart and the whole body as a whole can recover properly.
5. Some time after childbirth, a woman is recommended to be observed by a cardiologist, since the recovery process in such cases is much slower and more difficult.
6. As a rule, tachycardia in the mother during pregnancy does not affect the baby, but many pediatricians recommend an ultrasound examination of the baby's heart to detect birth pathologies. You should also see a cardiologist if there were some complications during childbirth.
7. A young mother should not strain too much. In order to avoid the deterioration of the physical condition or the occurrence of postpartum depression (as a consequence of a difficult birth), it is necessary to have more rest and walk in the fresh air, putting household chores into the background.