Hypothyroidism in pregnancy

Abstract

Thyroid hormones of the fetus exclusively comes from mothers in early pregnancy, indicating that maternal hypothyroidism has a close-knit relationship with fetal growth and neuropsychological development. Hypothyroidism is one of the most common endocrinopathies during pregnancy with an estimated prevalence of 3–5% among pregnant women. Emerging evidence suggests that maternal overt hypothyroidism is associated with adverse maternal, obstetrical and neonatal outcomes, but, although there is still no consensus on the association of subclinical thyroid disorders or increasing thyroid antibodies with complications of pregnancy and childhood cognition. Data available are inconclusive regarding the benefits of treatment of subclinical hypothyroid pregnant women for both feto-maternal outcomes and even neurocognitive development of the children of affected women. In this review we aimed to address pregnancy outcomes of mothers affected by overt and subclinical hypothyroidism, psychosocial development of neonates affected by overt and subclinical maternal hypothyroidism and the beneficial effects of treatment.