Contents:
- Medical Video: Chemotherapy and pregnancy
- Chemotherapy during pregnancy, is it possible?
- What you need to consider if you get cancer while pregnant
Medical Video: Chemotherapy and pregnancy
For those of you who have cancer while pregnant, this might be very risky. The cancer treatment options that you have to go through during pregnancy may be more complicated, besides you want to protect your baby. Cancer treatment, such as chemotherapy during pregnancy must be well planned by you and your team of doctors. Wrong-wrong, maybe this can endanger the baby in your womb.
Chemotherapy during pregnancy, is it possible?
Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment that is done by administering drugs that aim to destroy and stop the growth of cancer cells. Having cancer while pregnant may require you to continue chemotherapy so you can control the growth of cancer cells in the body and also to protect your baby. However, the risk of chemotherapy during pregnancy may also worsen your condition and your baby's.
You can do chemotherapy while pregnant. However, there are many factors that you must consider before chemotherapy during pregnancy, such as:
- Stage of pregnancy
- Type, location, size, and stage of cancer
- The desire of your own
Chemotherapy must be well planned to ensure that your baby is not affected by the cancer treatment. Chemotherapy carried out in early pregnancy may have an adverse effect on the baby. During the first trimester (3 months of pregnancy), your fetus does a lot of organ growth and development. So, chemotherapy in the first trimester of pregnancy can cause the risk of birth defects or even miscarriage.
Your doctor may delay you chemotherapy during the first trimester of pregnancy. You can do chemotherapy during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. This is safe because the placenta can protect your baby from chemotherapy drugs. The placenta can act as a barrier to chemotherapy drugs flowing into the baby's body. So, you don't need to worry! Your baby is protected. Research has also proven that chemotherapy during pregnancy in the second and third trimesters does not increase the risk of birth defects, stillbirths, or health problems after the baby is born.
However, chemotherapy should not be done when your gestational age is nearing the date of birth (after about 35 weeks' gestation). In general, the last dose of chemotherapy drugs is given about 8 weeks before the date of birth (gestational age between 32-33 weeks). This is done to prevent the risk of infection during labor. Infection can occur because chemotherapy can reduce the number of white blood cells.
What you need to consider if you get cancer while pregnant
Chemotherapy may have to be done when you are pregnant, but it may not be necessary. If it must be done, it should be carefully planned. Consider your condition and always consult with your doctor. Remember this:
- You don't need to worry that your baby will get cancer also because there is a barrier between the body of the mother and the baby that allows cancer cells not to enter the body and blood flow of the baby.
- Your decision to delay treatment or abort your pregnancy depends on the condition of the cancer you have and how emergency you must receive treatment. In some cases, chemotherapy can be delayed until your baby is born.
- If you need hormone therapy, it's best to do it until your baby is born.
