Artificial uterus and ultrasound in the phone: What will be the pregnancy of the future
Many fears, worries and limitations are associated with pregnancy. Sometimes this is due to a misunderstanding of what is happening in the body, and sometimes - pressure from others, including health workers, insisting on special diets or too frequent analyzes. And yet the situation is changing: we are increasingly talking about a conscious approach to motherhood, that pregnancy is not a disease, and the importance of continuing an active lifestyle at this time. We asked a few women with small children, gynecologists and a telemedicine specialist about how they see the future of pregnancy.
The most important thing is planning a pregnancy. I would like a pregnancy to occur precisely when the couple is ready for this - physically, morally, financially and somehow. Now contraception in Russia is not paid too much attention; I hope this will change in the foreseeable future, and women will be able to consciously choose the time of birth of the child.
I also hope that the practice of unnecessary tests and prescriptions will come to naught and the notion of a “normally proceeding pregnancy” will return - without unnecessary pills, hospitalizations and nerves. At the same time, I am aware that in the near future, genetic studies will become more widespread (not those that determine the pathology of the fetus, but those that determine the "predisposition" of the mother for miscarriage, preeclampsia and other complications). Unfortunately, the results of these analyzes are often interpreted incorrectly, and this entails intimidation, excessive prescription of drugs and other interventions. So, apparently, the road to a quiet pregnancy will pass through a surge of genetic tests in the very near future.
I see the future as follows: it will become very easy to plan conception up to a specific day. Home rapid tests will appear to help determine the moment of maximum fertility of the couple. At the same time there will be means that increase the activity of sperm and create the conditions for fertilization - and with the exception of ectopic pregnancy. The pregnancy itself can be diagnosed at home literally in the first days.
The examination will take several hours to determine all possible risks to the mother and fetus. Precisely, the time will come for gadgets like a bracelet that records the state of the fetus (heartbeat, periods of activity, the state of amniotic fluid) and transmits this data to a 24-hour monitoring center. There, the automated system, evaluating the incoming data, will transmit signals to the doctor on duty. Scanners will come to replace the ultrasound, allowing you to fully visualize the fetus, examine the systems and organs, and examine any tissue in layers. Schedules of visits to the doctor will be based on all these data.
Opportunities will change for those who are unable to become pregnant today; for example, in case of obstruction of the fallopian tubes, substances will be used to restore their permeability. Surrogate motherhood will be replaced by biological machines that can replace the uterus, carrying out normal childbirth and childbirth. The birth process itself will be programmed, painless and safe for the mother and child - for example, in special baths with a biological environment that reduces stress when a baby moves from the aquatic environment into the air, nourishes its body with normal flora and eliminates the injuries of the birth canal for the mother.
In Russia, doctors conduct pregnancy according to the order of the Ministry of Health, which describes how many times and when a woman should visit specialists (not only an obstetrician-gynecologist, but also a general practitioner, otorhinolaryngologist, dentist, ultrasound scanner) and what procedures and tests should be performed. Now the Ministry of Health prescribes a visit to the doctor, which cannot be replaced by a telephone or video call, since some of the important information can only be obtained during the examination. In the near future, it is unlikely that the pregnancy will be completely removed - but the convenience of telemedicine elements will definitely improve.
During pregnancy, questions arise every day, especially if this is the first experience. Often a woman does not understand what to do - to ignore, to register with a doctor, or to call an ambulance at all? Here, by the way, is telemedicine service: with its help, you can conduct a quick consultation, assess the situation, tell you what to do next. In the future, telemedicine will allow the use of gadgets such as a portable ultrasound machine - then the doctor will receive more data from the patient for review, analysis and conclusions. Even if such a study is less informative than an ultrasound scan at a clinic, in an emergency it will provide a more complete picture.
Surprisingly, pregnancy in most institutions in Russia is still captured only in paper documents — that is, in the event of a move, a woman is forced to undergo anew tests, notify doctors about features, and so on. I am sure that in the future both the history and all the results of the surveys will be stored online - and this applies not only to the management of pregnancy, but to medicine in general.
Now in Russia it is not clear who determines the policy of maternity hospitals and perinatal centers: I want to see them more unified, and their work is consistent with the principles of evidence-based medicine. Even policies regarding breastfeeding or infant feeding with water are different in different maternity homes (and often do not comply with WHO recommendations). I hope that this situation will change with time.
It is very pleasant to observe that the attitude towards motherhood and childbirth evolves in small steps. Childbirths become conscious, doctors rarely dictate their authoritarian will to mothers, the general level of knowledge of both specialists and patients increases. In general, it seems to me that managing pregnancy gets on the rails of humanism, new technologies and equality - for example, in the USA there are separate parking spaces for pregnant women.
I would like to have a partner in the future child who wants and can do it - and if both do not want to go through pregnancy and childbirth, then an artificial uterus will help. But if not so radically, then my fantasies about the future of pregnancy are: most of the diagnostic procedures can be carried out independently at home or you can consult a doctor remotely; there will be fewer tests, it will be possible to “contact” the fetus. I do not know how it will be: some tiny sensors, a microcamera, an ultrasound scan in the phone - but it is important that parents can do it themselves and when they want.
It would be great if they could learn to "tweak" the genes of the fetus in order to exclude diseases and dangerous mutations. I am sure that in the future people will be more conscious and responsible approach to parenting and the number of unplanned pregnancies will be reduced to a minimum. I also hope that humanity will become more humane and reproductive work will be considered as work, and not “yes it doesn’t do anything - it rests on maternity leave”.
In the future, I would like to see a pregnancy apart from a woman. Or from a man. Or a person of any other gender who wants to have a child. Despite the fact that I was lucky and during pregnancy I received only a mandatory minimum of unpleasant feelings, it was pretty obvious that Mother Nature, having arranged a curious and complicated process inside, scored on someone outside. In my opinion, it would be much better if everything happened in an incubator - put your egg there and wait, put ambient music to it, read Tartt. In general, you need a choice - to carry the child yourself or grow it somewhere outside of your body. Now, of course, there are surrogate mothers, but this is not a massive and too emotionally charged option. I hope my daughter, if she wants children, will have that choice already.
Now I am waiting for the second child, and since the previous pregnancy I became a vegan. I would like midwives and pregnancy doctors to have more information and practical recommendations on plant nutrition during pregnancy and lactation. I would also like the equality sign between pregnancy and malaise or illness to leave the minds of women forever. For this, we need competent specialists who are ready to support a woman, for example, in continuing training and the usual way of life during pregnancy. From the very remote and, perhaps, unrealizable - that men also had the opportunity to carry the child. I'm sure my husband would be happy to agree.
Firstly, in the bright future, all pregnancies will be desired - this will be facilitated by sexual counseling and highly effective contraception available to all, as well as state support for parents and children. Not in words, but real, in the form of good payments or a tax refund, for which you do not need to go to a heap of instances and fill out a million pieces of paper. And if you really dream about the ideal future, then there will be no sexual violence in it either.
Secondly, women will cease to frighten, and they will cease to be afraid. Now pregnant women are afraid of flying on planes, pumping press and running, doing ultrasounds, drinking coffee and paracetamol, painting hair and nails - this is just a tiny part of the endless list. I hope in the future there will be more objective information without intimidation, and pregnancy will proceed without this endless panic for any reason.
And finally, thirdly, people will simply be more respectful of each other, do not meddle with uninvited advice, and do not form guilt in pregnant women and parents of small children. All finally realize that a cesarean section or childbirth under anesthesia is a complete birth, and a mother who could not breastfeed or even adopted a child is no worse than a mother who has gone through vaginal delivery and long breastfeeding.
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