If you have one or more of the following symptoms at any
time during your pregnancy you should immediately call your
doctor:
| • |
Abdominal or back pain |
| • |
Vaginal bleeding |
| • |
Bleeding from nipples, rectum
or blood in urine, coughing up blood. |
| • |
Sudden swelling of any part of
the body |
| • |
Visual disturbance |
| • |
Diarrhoea |
| • |
Sudden weight gain not related
to eating patterns |
| • |
Severe headaches |
| • |
Fainting or dizziness |
| • |
Painful or burning urine |
| • |
Fever |
| • |
Sudden onset of severe vomiting
|
| • |
All over itching |
| • |
Absence of foetal movement for
24 hours after week 20 |
| • |
Fewer than 10 foetal movements
per hour after week 28 |
Heavy vaginal bleeding is the most common symptom of a
problem. Whatever stage of pregnancy you have reached, if
you are experiencing bleeding you should call your doctor
and go to bed. Severe cramping and tenderness on one side
should also be reported to the doctor as soon as possible
even if not accompanied by bleeding.
If the bleeding is accompanied by cramps, abdominal or
lower back pain and passing of clots then you should contact
your doctor urgently or go to your nearest hospital casualty
centre.
Having said that, it is important to know the following.
During the first 12 weeks of pregnancy about a quarter of
all women experience bleeding which is part of the normal
process and not an indication of a problem. There are several
common causes for this:
| • |
Implantation bleeding: Brief
and light bleeding may occur as the fertilised egg
implants into the placenta, usually 5- 10 days after
conception. |
| • |
Period: it is not uncommon to
experience slight spotting around the time that you
would normally have experienced a period. |
| • |
Intercourse: The tender cervix
is engorged with blood and after intercourse it is
possible to have light spotting. |
Early miscarriage (loss of embryo in the first 12 weeks)
is very common and thought to occur in roughly 50% of conceptions,
mostly before the woman even knows she is pregnant. In the
majority of cases this does not affect future pregnancies.
There are a wide range of reasons for this, the most common
being abnormal foetus and implantation problems. Be aware
that in a normal pregnancy miscarriage is NOT caused by
sex, working hard, lifting heavy objects or vomiting.
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