Technological Advancements in Pregnancy - Essay Example

? Technology Advancements in Pregnancy School Technology Advancements in Pregnancy In the present age, women rarely have to deliver a baby with the assistance of a midwife at home. Today, women regularly visit a doctor during the pregnancy for the assessment of their pregnancy and in order to solve any issues of concern along the way. While the current knowledge about technological developments related to pregnancy is widespread in the developed countries, significant population of the underdeveloped countries also benefits from them. The current technologies used for pregnancy include, but are not limited to, in-vitro fertilization, prenatal testing, and ultrasounds. A cesarean section is used to save the life of the mother as well as the baby. The well-being of the fetus is determined with the help of the ultrasound exam that generates the bio-physiological profile. This noninvasive technique is also used to locate problems in placenta. The fetal heart rate is monitored with the help of a non-stress test (NST). Likewise, there is a stress test (OCT) which is used to induce the uterine contractions in the women to determine the response of fetus to the labor stress. Use of technological developments related to pregnancy is intrinsically related to the topic of private practices and public policy as the tests and procedures are commonly prescribed by the doctors both in the private and public health care centers for the proper assessment of pregnancy and eradication of any problems that are discovered along the way. Governmental policies are directed at the regulation and control of such procedures because of such concerns as child abortion on the basis of gender, or disability identified through the use of technological procedures. Technology has mostly contributed to the safety and wellbeing of pregnancy. These days, technology has been developed to the extent that many options have been made available to the infertile couples to obtain child biologically. One of such techniques is in-vitro fertilization. While the natural pregnancy requires little to no external intervention of any kind, same is not true for the in-vitro fertilization. Natural pregnancy incurs the couple very limited cost and the success rate is very high. On the other hand, “In-vitro fertilization (IVF) and gamete intra-fallopian transfer (GIFT) are costly, invasive procedures with low success rates” (Gregg, 1995, p. 3). However, IVF provides the infertile women with procreative option. Congenital deformities consist of a whole range of physical deformities which exist right from the birth, many of which sustain until late in life. Congenital deformities include but are not limited to craniofacial deformities like palate, and skeletal deformities like spina bifida. Prenatal testing provides the couple with knowledge about the health of the baby before his/her birth. There are certain tests that are routinely prescribed to monitor the baby’s health. These include urine tests, blood tests, and tests for such diseases as chickenpox and rubella. While there was always an inclination towards the monitoring of baby’s health in the prenatal period, use of such techniques as ultrasound has surged up as they have become increasingly available to the people around the world. There are broadly two options for the birth of a child; normal childbirth and the cesarean childbirth. Most of the deliveries in with little to no complication happen in the normal way. However, there are certain cases when cesarean childbirth is safer. A cesarean childbirth is a surgical procedure of the baby’s delivery which is done by making incisions in the uterus and the abdominal wall of the mother. As Littleton and Engebreston note, “for cesarean section, regional anesthesia is used when possible to minimize fetal anesthetic effects that could occur with a general anesthetic” (p. 586). Cesarean childbirth is generally riskier as compared to the natural childbirth. Normal childbirth is quicker and the recovery period is shorter as compared to the cesarean childbirth. Technological advancements in pregnancy have made various kinds of pregnancy tests and ovulation predictor kits to the doctors to recognize the pregnancy. Pregnancy tests are meant to detect the presence of certain hormones in the blood or urine which are indicative of a woman’s pregnancy. The name used for this hormone is pregnancy hormone or human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). “Tests focus on specific indicators such as age and size of the fetus, detection of specified chromosomal anomalies, and location of the placenta” (Saetnan, Oudshoorn & Kirejczyk, 2000, p. 358). On the other hand, ovulation predictor kits determine the extent of luteinizing hormone (LH) in the urine. LH increases in level in urine just before ovulation. Use of the ovulation predictor kits at possible times of ovulation in a month enables a woman to gain an accurate estimate of the time when the ovulation may occur. Ultrasound imaging or sonography is the process of exposure of a body part to the sound waves of high frequency so that images of the inside body can be produced. This technique does not make use of ionizing radiation. Real-time capturing of the ultrasound images shows the movement as well as structure of the internal organs of the body along with the passage of blood through the blood vessels. Ultrasound imaging assists the physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of the medical conditions. It is a noninvasive medical test. Pictures of the embryo or fetus inside the uterus can be produced with the help of obstetrical ultrasound. Ultrasound has helped prevent many abortions. “80% to 85% of clients considered to be abortion-vulnerable or abortion-minded who experienced the ultrasound opted to carry their pregnancies to term rather than to terminate them” (Jones, 2008, p. 150). Prenatal diagnostic testing is a way of determining problems with the fetus with a high level of certainty. To make the determination more specific, a diagnostic test is prescribed after the screening test. One fact that complicates the prenatal testing is that diagnosis of more abnormalities in the fetus is depressing for the mother since certain abnormalities cannot be cured or treated. Genetic testing is common among over-age pregnant women as the risks of abnormalities in the babies includes as the woman crosses mid-thirties. Amniocentesis is a genetic test which is performed between the pregnancy’s 16th and 18th week. Use of technology during pregnancy has both pros and cons. Pros include improved possibility of infertile couples to have a baby, improved monitoring of the baby’s and the mother’s health during pregnancy, and improved chances of successful delivery. While the pros of the use of technology are numerous, there is some technology in use in the contemporary age which is not quite necessary. Some technologies have been found to be more harmful rather than beneficial. Such technologies include but are not limited to the cesarean surgery to remove dips in the heart rate of the embryo or fetus which could have been totally avoided otherwise. In fact, all kinds of technology, which are used in the prenatal period till delivery, have certain risks both for the baby and the mother. Likewise, the prenatal diagnostic testing reveals untreatable abnormalities. As Datta states, “approximately 3% to 5% of all neonates have a known birth defect” (p. 23). Invasive medical interventions have contributed significantly to the spread of anesthesia, hemorrhage, and infection. Concluding, use of technology during pregnancy has increased manifolds over the decades, and most of this has generated favorable results. Over the last thirty years, there has been considerable advancement in the medical technology. This has provided women with more awareness about their unborn baby, as well as the pregnancy. There is adequate empirical proof of the benefits of the use of technology during pregnancy as recorded in research works. Use of technology during pregnancy is safe for the baby’s, as well as the mother’s health in a vast majority of cases. References: Datta, S. (2004). Anesthetic and obstetric management of high-risk pregnancy. New York: Springer. Gregg, R. (1995). Pregnancy in a high-tech age: Paradoxes of choice. New York: NYU Press. Jones, R.K. (2008). The rhetorical strategies of pregnancy support centers including the visual rhetoric of fetal ultrasound technology. Ann Arbor, MI: Proquest. Littleton, L. & Engebretson, J. (2009). Maternity nursing care. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Saetnan, A., Oudshoorn, N., & Kirejczyk, M. (2000). Bodies of technology: Women’s involvement with reproductive medicine. Ohio: Ohio State University Press. Read More