Effect of maternal hypothyroidism on obstetric and perinatal outcome, an observational study

Abstract

Objectives: Thyroid problems are one of the endocrine conditions that affect pregnant women most frequently. It is now widely acknowledged that both overt and subclinical thyroid problems can have a negative impact on obstetrical and neonatal outcomes. Surprisingly, there aren't many statistics from India regarding the prevalence of thyroid disease during pregnancy. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the frequency of thyroid dysfunction in pregnancy and how it affects both maternal and neonatal outcomes.Materials and Methods: Thyroid stimulating hormone tests were performed on a total of 427 pregnant women to look for hypothyroidism. Thyroid peroxidase antibodies and free T4 were measured and classified as subclinical and overt hypothyroidism if the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was greater than 3 IU/L. Low birth weight, fetal growth restriction, intrauterine death, and others like respiratory distress syndrome, cardiac arrest, hypoglycemic seizures were neonatal outcomes observed in our study and evaluated for statistical significance. Preterm births, abruption, oligohydramnios, rate of caesarean deliveries, gestational diabetes mellitus and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were documented as obstetrical outcomes.Results: Preterm births, abruption, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were discovered to be statistically significant obstetrical outcomes in our investigation. Clinically relevant factors included gestational diabetes, oligohydramnios, anemia and caesarean delivery frequency. In cases of maternal hypothyroidism, unfavourable neonatal outcomes such as foetal growth restriction, intrauterine mortality, cardiac arrest, and respiratory distress syndrome were found to be clinically significant.Conclusion: According to the study's findings, maternal hypothyroidism has an impact on a number of variables. Specifically, placental abruption, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm deliveries, anemia, cardiac arrest, respiratory distress syndrome, and hypoglycemia seizures.