Does a difficult pregnancy precede giving birth to a child with special needs?

Question

My friend who is about 10 weeks pregnant just found out she is a carrier for Cysitc Fibrosis. They are waiting for the results of testing her boyfiend, and will test the baby if the BF is also a carrier. My question is: She has had so far a very difficult pregnancy. Lots of pain, terrible vomiting and overall ill health. Could this be due to the fact that the baby may have CF? Some may think this is a silly question, but if there are any parents of special needs children reading this, what do you recall from pregnancy?

Answer 1

nope, her sickness is her hormones, the pain is probably the uterus strectching, and the ill health could be anything from the weird weather we have been having to a it being cold and flu season.
I had the easiest pregancy around and MY daughter has special needs.

Answer 2

I have a perfectly healthy 7 year old child who is very advanced in math and reading, good at sports, lots of friends---and I spent so much time throwing up during the first few months of pregnancy that I had broken blood vessels in my face!

Not only that---but part way through pregnancy I got a terrible rash which apparently only happens to pregnant women and goes away after you give birth. It was like having poison ivy over 90% of my body.

That kid made me sick as a dog, itchy all over, andgave me just about every other pregnancy complaint you can think of ---he was even breech and needed a version---and he was born a healthy 8 pounds and he's been great ever since.

I hope your friend is okay----please take some reassurance that a difficult pregnancy does NOT mean an unhealthy baby.

Answer 3

There is no way to tell from the mothers physical symptoms that her child will be special needs OR have CF. It sounds like even though she is having a hard time, she is having a healthy pregnancy! I always heard the worse morning sickness, the healthier the baby. Telll her to calm down and wait for her b/f's genetic testing results. Her child can not have CF if the father is not a carrier and even if he is, there is like a 1 in 4 chance that the baby will have CF.

Answer 4

I had two difficult pregnancies and my children turned out fine. High blood pressure with the first and terrible vomiting with the second. I am not sure about being a carrier and the type of pregnancy but I know the difficulty of the pregnancy is not always a determining factor of the health of the baby.

Answer 5

not a silly question at all! generally speaking, there's no way to tell just by how the pregnancy is going, what needs the baby may have. at 10 weeks, she is in the prime of the morning sickness...which will last all day i'm sure! the pain c ould be her boody adjusting to the pregnancy. a friend of mine had an absolutely horrible pregnancy...morning sickness that lasted all day, and all 9 months. it was so bad she was on a drug they give chemo patients to help with nausea. she has a perfectly healthy 5 year old now...no problems at all! same with my pregnancy. i had horrid heartburn, terrrible back pain, and a very long labor...but a perfectly healthy 2 month old! also, i am a special education teacher...students with severe needs. most of the mothers will say they had perfectly normal pregnancies with no complications. i hope that helps! some people's bodies just deal with pregnancy differently than others. i hope that can ease your mind...and hers! congrats to your friend, and good luck!

Answer 6

Well this is slightly different. My first son who is now almost 6 is moderately autistic with severe integrative and social, and developmental delays. I however didn't have this diagnosis and got pregnant right away with my second who lucky is only delayed in speech.

But before I got results back recently on my oldest sons testing.. (they tested him for fragile X and other chromosomal abnormalities) I was told that I was at risk for having another child with these delays if not worse. I am 29 weeks with my third child. I've had nothing but problems with this pregnancy but since finding he doesn't have any of the above abnormalities the pregnancy problems I have been having are seeming to tapper off. It could have to do with stress.

Answer 7

You know, I don't think so. My son has a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow in his brain and other major organs and when I was pregnant with him, it was the easiest pregnancy ever. I never had morning sickness, no pain, even his birth was easy! It wasn't until AFTER he was born that all hell broke loose. AS for my other children(the girls), some are carriers of the disease and some aren't, but they were all difficult, but don't actually HAVE the disease. So, no, it doesn't mean anything one way or the other. Just tell her to be calm. She can handle whatever comes her way.

Answer 8

I had two difficult pregnancies and both of my kids came out fine. I had an aunt who was told that her son was going to come out with Down Syndrome and he didn't . Doctors are not always right. I don't think that a difficult pregnancy entails a child coming out with special needs. It is really just the luck of the draw. Some women have great pregnancies while others get raked over the coals.

Answer 9

I don't think that how a mother carries her child is related to the child's health, except in the case of spontaneous abortion. If the child is deformed, major problems, etc., the body expels the fetus. But pain, vomiting, is within normal limits of pregnancy woes.

Now if the mom doesn't take care of herself, doesn't eat right, get prenatal care, stop drugs, etc., the baby could be affected.

I'm not an expert. Tell your friend I prayed for her.

Debbie

Answer 10

No. Some pregnancies that are the most difficult will bear normal children and some simple pregnancies will bear children with health issues. Often , unless testing is done there is no real way to tell. I have 4 kids and a 5th on the way, and have many friends with babies who have been born with health issues. My kids were all born with no medical conditions, though my pregnancies were harder and they had simple pregnancies. Like I said, testing is done as it is the only way to tell these things.

Answer 11

With my second, I had a horrible pregnancy. I almost died on the delivery table due to extremely high blood pressure. My son was just fine and is a very healthy and happy 27 y/o serving in Iraq today. I wish he were home. I hope that CF gene stays hidden in your friends child and the baby is born normal as can be. Good luck.