Endometriosis is when the tissue that makes up the uterine lining (the lining of the womb) is present on other organs inside your body. Endometriosis is usually found in the lower abdomen, or pelvis, but can appear anywhere in the body. Women with endometriosis often have lower abdominal pain, pain with periods, or pain with sexual intercourse, and may report having a hard time getting pregnant. On the other hand, some women with endometriosis may not have any symptoms at all.

Endometriosis is estimated to affect between 3% and 10% of reproductive-aged women. Endometriosis can only be truly diagnosed by a doctor performing a laparoscopy (a surgery where a doctor looks in the abdomen with a camera usually through the belly button) and taking a sample of a suspected abnormality.

A high-risk pregnancy might pose challenges before, during or after delivery. If you have a high-risk pregnancy, you and your baby might need special monitoring or care throughout your pregnancy. Understand what causes a high-risk pregnancy, and what you can do to take care of yourself and your baby.

What are the risk factors for a high-risk pregnancy?

Sometimes a high-risk pregnancy is the result of a medical condition present before pregnancy. In other cases, a medical condition that develops during pregnancy for either mom or baby causes a pregnancy to become high risk.

Specific factors that might contribute to a high-risk pregnancy include:

Advanced maternal age. Pregnancy risks are higher for mothers age 35 and older.

Lifestyle choices. Smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and using illegal drugs can put a pregnancy at risk.

Medical history. A prior C-section, low birth weight baby or preterm birth — birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy — might increase the risk in subsequent pregnancies. Other risk factors include a family history of genetic conditions, a history of pregnancy loss or the death of a baby shortly after birth.

FibroidA hysterectomy is an operation to remove a woman's uterus (womb). The uterus is where a baby grows when a woman is pregnant. In some cases, the ovaries and fallopian tubes also are removed. These organs are located in a woman’s lower abdomen. The cervix is the lower end of the uterus. The ovaries are organs that produce eggs and hormones. The fallopian tubes carry eggs from the ovaries to the uterus.

There are several types of hysterectomies:

Complete or total: Removes the cervix as well as the uterus. (This is the most common type of hysterectomy.)

Partial or subtotal: Removes the upper part of the uterus and leaves the cervix in place.

Radical: Removes the uterus, the cervix, the upper part of the vagina, and supporting tissues. (This is done in some cases of cancer.) Often one or both ovaries and fallopian tubes are removed at the same time a hysterectomy is done.

Excessive menstrual bleeding affects one in five women.

The amount of blood lost in each period varies enormously from individual to individual. Some women lose a few teaspoonfuls and hardly notice their periods, while other women regularly lose large volumes of blood. Because of this wide variation it is impossible to define a 'normal' period in terms of the amount, length, and frequency of bleeding. A heavy period for one woman may be normal for another.

However, for any individual woman, the amount of blood lost every month tends to remain relatively constant, apart from slight variations with age. It would be unusual for a woman to lose a few teaspoonfuls of blood one month and a pint of blood the next. Because the amount of blood loss is relatively constant, each individual woman tends to consider her own periods to be normal for her, and usually only worries about them or consults her doctor when she feels that her periods have changed.