ICD-9 Code 648.20

Anemia of mother, unspecified as to episode of care or not applicable

Not Valid for Submission

648.20 is a legacy non-billable code used to specify a medical diagnosis of anemia of mother, unspecified as to episode of care or not applicable. This code was replaced on September 30, 2015 by its ICD-10 equivalent.

ICD-9: 648.20
Short Description:Anemia in preg-unspec
Long Description:Anemia of mother, unspecified as to episode of care or not applicable

Convert 648.20 to ICD-10

The following crosswalk between ICD-9 to ICD-10 is based based on the General Equivalence Mappings (GEMS) information:

  • O99.019 - Anemia complicating pregnancy, unspecified trimester

Code Classification

  • Complications of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium (630–679)
    • Complications mainly related to pregnancy (640-649)
      • 648 Other current conditions in the mother classifiable elsewhere but complicating pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium

Information for Medical Professionals

Code Edits

The Medicare Code Editor (MCE) detects and reports errors in the coding of claims data. The following ICD-9 Code Edits are applicable to this code:

Information for Patients


Anemia

If you have anemia, your blood does not carry enough oxygen to the rest of your body. The most common cause of anemia is not having enough iron. Your body needs iron to make hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is an iron-rich protein that gives the red color to blood. It carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.

Anemia has three main causes: blood loss, lack of red blood cell production, and high rates of red blood cell destruction.

Conditions that may lead to anemia include:

  • Heavy periods
  • Pregnancy
  • Ulcers
  • Colon polyps or colon cancer
  • Inherited disorders
  • A diet that does not have enough iron, folic acid or vitamin B12
  • Blood disorders such as sickle cell anemia and thalassemia, or cancer
  • Aplastic anemia, a condition that can be inherited or acquired
  • G6PD deficiency, a metabolic disorder

Anemia can make you feel tired, cold, dizzy, and irritable. You may be short of breath or have a headache.

Your doctor will diagnose anemia with a physical exam and blood tests. Treatment depends on the kind of anemia you have.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute


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Childbirth Problems

Childbirth is the process of giving birth to a baby. It includes labor and delivery. Usually everything goes well, but problems can happen. They may cause a risk to the mother, baby, or both. Some of the more common childbirth problems include:

  • Preterm (premature) labor, when your labor starts before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy
  • Premature rupture of membranes (PROM), when your water breaks too early. If labor does not start soon afterwards, this can raise the risk of infection.
  • Problems with the placenta, such as the placenta covering the cervix, separating from the uterus before birth, or being attached too firmly to the uterus
  • Labor that does not progress, meaning that labor is stalled. This can happen when
    • Your contractions weaken
    • Your cervix does not dilate (open) enough or is taking too long to dilate
    • The baby is not in the right position
    • The baby is too big or your pelvis is too small for the baby to move through the birth canal
  • Abnormal heart rate of the baby. Often, an abnormal heart rate is not a problem. But if the heart rate gets very fast or very slow, it can be a sign that your baby is not getting enough oxygen or that there are other problems.
  • Problems with the umbilical cord, such as the cord getting caught on the baby's arm, leg, or neck. It's also a problem if cord comes out before the baby does.
  • Problems with the position of the baby, such as breech, in which the baby is going to come out feet first
  • Shoulder dystocia, when the baby's head comes out, but the shoulder gets stuck
  • Perinatal asphyxia, which happens when the baby does not get enough oxygen in the uterus, during labor or delivery, or just after birth
  • Perineal tears, tearing of your vagina and the surrounding tissues
  • Excessive bleeding, which can happen when the delivery causes tears to the uterus or if you are not able to deliver the placenta after you give birth to the baby
  • Post-term pregnancy, when your pregnancy lasts more than 42 weeks

If you have problems in childbirth, your health care provider may need to give you medicines to induce or speed up labor, use tools to help guide the baby out of the birth canal, or deliver the baby by Cesarean section.

NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development


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Health Problems in Pregnancy

Every pregnancy has some risk of problems. You may have problems because of a health condition you had before you got pregnant. You could also develop a condition during pregnancy. Other causes of problems during pregnancy can include being pregnant with more than one baby, a health problem in a previous pregnancy, drug use during pregnancy, or being over age 35. Any of these can affect your health, the health of your baby, or both.

If you have a chronic condition, you should talk to your health care provider about how to minimize your risk before you get pregnant. Once you are pregnant, you may need a health care team to monitor your pregnancy. Some common health problems that can complicate a pregnancy include:

  • High blood pressure
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome
  • Kidney problems
  • Autoimmune disorders
  • Obesity
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Cancer
  • Infections

Other conditions that can make pregnancy risky can happen while you are pregnant - for example, gestational diabetes and Rh incompatibility. Good prenatal care can help detect and treat them.

Some discomforts, like nausea, back pain, and fatigue, are common during pregnancy. Sometimes it is hard to know what is normal. Call your health care provider if something is bothering or worrying you.


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ICD-9 Footnotes

General Equivalence Map Definitions
The ICD-9 and ICD-10 GEMs are used to facilitate linking between the diagnosis codes in ICD-9-CM and the new ICD-10-CM code set. The GEMs are the raw material from which providers, health information vendors and payers can derive specific applied mappings to meet their needs.

  • Approximate Flag - The approximate flag is on, indicating that the relationship between the code in the source system and the code in the target system is an approximate equivalent.
  • No Map Flag - The no map flag indicates that a code in the source system is not linked to any code in the target system.
  • Combination Flag - The combination flag indicates that more than one code in the target system is required to satisfy the full equivalent meaning of a code in the source system.