Treatment to prevent miscarriages

By Ally Jamah and Anne Kanina

A gene mapping procedure can be used to treat couples with mismatched chromosomes that cause spontaneous abortion.

The chromosome harmonising procedure costs Sh100, 000, says Dr Njoroge Waithaka, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Two of 10 pregnancies end in the death of foetus, a condition known as spontaneous abortion or miscarriage.

During a spontaneous abortion the baby is expelled naturally from the womb before the 24th week. A pregnancy loss after that period is termed as a pre-term delivery.

Waithaka says the majority of spontaneous abortions are caused by a "mismatch" of the chromosomes between a couple, which prevents the foetus from developing to full-term.

Those who experience occasional mismatches can be treated y a gene mapping procedure, he says.

Another major cause of spontaneous abortion is malaria, which causes anaemia in the pregnant mothers, making it difficult to sustain the pregnancy.

Pregnant women living in malaria endemic areas have a two to three times more risk of spontaneous abortions. HIV positive women also face a greater risk.

A World Health Organisation study in Kenya found that women with HIV were more likely to have had a miscarriage than HIV-negative ones.

HIV heightens the risk of spontaneous abortion by damaging the placenta.

 

 

Read all about: Kenyatta National Hospital miscarriage

 

 

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