Hypothyroidism and pregnancy

[Concernedkay]

Hi everyone,

Im 2 years postpartum with my first and want to start trying for another baby soon.

Last year I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid so didn't have to worry about this with my first. Can anyone give me their experience with ttc, their pregnancy and birth and was anyone able to have a water birth? I was low risk and supposed to have a water birth with my first but it wasn't available for me on the day 🙄 is it still possible to have a water birth with hypothyroidism as I'm not sure if it's still considered a low risk pregnancy as long as the thyroid is managed? Thank you

Are you on thyroxine? The main thing to watch out for is that your body’s need for thyroxine often increases in the early stages of pregnancy. In fact I believe the advice to GPs is to increase thyroxine dose by 25% on confirmation of pregnancy, while also ordering blood tests to confirm what the thyroid is actually doing. (I’m going off memory so this may not be exactly right).

Also you want your TSH to be <2.5 in order to get pregnant. TSH <5 is deemed normal range usually but not for ttc purposes.

As for water birth… As I recall, hypothyroid does not make you high risk as long as it’s stable ie you are on the right dose to bring your TSH into normal range.

Hi @minipie thanks for clarifying!

Yes I am on thyroxine my tsh was 1.26 last time it was checked in Feb, I'm due for another blood test soon.

Oh is it 25%? I thought it was another 25 mcg. From what I've read it seems not all gps know this so a lot of women just start taking the extra themselves until they have their blood tests and are properly prescribed.

Was everything okay for you?

I may have got the 25% wrong! And yes not all GPs know this or will agree to it. Sounds like you are a good level.

Yep all was ok for me (well DD was prem but I don’t think that was due to thyroid as it was well controlled)

I wouldn’t increase the dose on confirmation of pregnancy without a blood test that shows the need to do so. I think this is dangerous advice in online forums, any increase should be advised by a medical professional and based on necessity/facts (blood tests). I have hypothyroidism and take levothyroxine, I check my bloods every 4 weeks. I’m 28 weeks pregnant now and my levels have stayed exactly the same throughout pregnancy, therefore there was no need to increase my dose. If I had increased it without any consultation, it would have caused my thyroid to move from under active to overactive, which would be just as detrimental for a successful pregnancy as an under active thyroid is.

That’s true, mine didn’t change either and so upping my dose would have been detrimental (I was only on 50mcg so a 25mcg change would have been huge)

I guess it depends on your current dose (ie is 25mcg a big chnage or not) and how quickly you can get a blood test done.

Hi! Currently pregnant with baby number two and the same situation as yourself. I was only diagnosed with an underactive thyroid two years ago.
The way it's happened for me was my medication was at a steady level, I was due in for a review of my medication (which at the time I'd have only just become pregnant) and they upped my medication by 25mg. When I eventually found out I was pregnant I called the GP who gave me details of the MAU to call. I explained to them, as per the NHS website id need my bloods checked for my thyroid levels. They booked me in prior to my booking in appointment and then checked again at 28 weeks :)

Hi there, I was diagnosed with underactive thyroid after my 1st baby. 2nd time round I am really freaking out, I didn’t take my levothyroxine for a week around 6 weeks when I ran out and moved house. Has anyone had a similar situation and baby been ok? I’m now nearly 9 weeks and haven’t had levels checked by anyone :(

what was your last tsh level?
have you seen the midwife yet? i’d get the levels checked asap

If it's stable, being on levothyroxine shouldn't make you high risk automatically. Insist on regular testing and ask about policies at your hospital. Mine had a policy that a dose change in the last trimester was against conditions for the birth center so I made sure to get a test a couple of weeks before the third tri. Dose actually went down at that point. Typically thyroxine dose increases a bit at first and levels out towards the end. I was already on 150mg so needed several increases and ended up on 200mg.It's totally normal and quite common don't let anyone tell you otherwise 😁

Dont freak out levo takes a while to leave your body but it is important to get tested ASAP and regularly ongoing to make sure. Many women have undiagnosed hypo and that's much more risky chances are you will be fine.
Please don't wait to be contacted for testing though, you need to advocate for yourself.