Risk factors tend to be interrelated and cumulative in their effect. While planning the care for a laboring client with diabetes mellitus, the nurse is aware that she is at a greater risk for:

Question

a. Oligohydramnios. c. Postterm pregnancy.
b. Polyhydramnios. d. Chromosomal abnormalities.

Answer 1

ANS: B
Polyhydramnios (amniotic fluid >2000 mL) is 10 times more likely to occur in diabetic compared with nondiabetic pregnancies. Polyhydramnios puts the mother at risk for premature rupture of membranes, premature labor, and postpartum hemorrhage. Prolonged rupture of membranes, intrauterine growth restriction, intrauterine fetal death, and renal agenesis (Potter syndrome) all put the client at risk for developing oligohydramnios. Anencephaly, placental insufficiency, and perinatal hypoxia all contribute to the risk for postterm pregnancy. Maternal age older than 35 and balanced translocation (maternal and paternal) are risk factors for chromosome abnormalities.