Expecting Mothers Article

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Danger Signs to watch for during pregnancy

By Aponjon Content Team

Pregnancy is a wonderful and happy time in any woman's life. It’s a special time too – that’s why you should take extra care of yourself. You should try to remain healthy by all means, but even still if you fall ill, you should seek advice from your doctor as quickly as possible. Diseases always come with symptoms. Understanding the symptoms is very important as some symptoms actually means that there is a serious underlying condition that may threaten your or your baby’s life. That’s why you should be on the lookout for such danger signs during the whole time of pregnancy as well as during labor. If you see any of the danger signs, you should immediately rush to your doctor.

Vaginal Bleeding

Early in pregnancy spotting can indicate an implantation bleed, but any bleeding in pregnancy should be taken seriously. During the first trimester, bleeding may indicate an ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage. Ectopic pregnancy is the condition where the embryo is implanted in someplace other than the normal site, which is the uterus.

Later in your pregnancy bleeding can be due to miscarriage, placenta previa or abruption of the placenta. Placenta previa is the condition where the placenta is lying unusually low in your uterus, next to or covering your cervix. If you notice any bleeding, you should be examined by your doctor.

Headaches and or blurred vision

If you have severe headache or see things blurred or if you experience both in the second half of pregnancy, this may be a sign of a condition known as pre-eclampsia. Usually after 20 weeks of pregnancy, your doctor will be on the lookout for high blood pressure and protein in your urine. If left untreated, pre-eclampsia can lead to a serious pregnancy complication called eclampsia which presents with very elevated blood pressure and seizures. This is very dangerous for mother and baby.

High fever

We all have fever from time to time, but during pregnancy, this should not be ignored. Fever during pregnancy are often caused by infection. Watch out for symptoms of urinary tract infection like burning sensation when urinating or pain in the abdomen. Watch out for foul smelling discharge from the vagina too. If you have fever with these symptoms, this may be due to infection. If you have high fever (102 degree F or more) or fever for more than 3 days, consider that as a danger sign and seek medical advice from your doctor immediately.

Swelling of hands and feet

It’s quite common to look a little puffier during pregnancy. A little swelling of the feet is not uncommon in pregnancy. But be careful, if your feet seem noticeably swollen, or if your hands or face seem swollen, you should take matters seriously, as this may be a sign of pre-eclampsia. Other signs of pre-eclampsia are severe headache, blurring of vision and abdominal pain in the upper abdomen.

Seizures

This is a very serious condition. If the pregnant mother has seizures, that indicates a grave condition for both mother and baby. It indicates that eclampsia has set in which often follows pre-eclampsia. You should make other members of your family aware about the danger signs and tell them to take you to hospital immediately if you have seizures.

Little or no fetal movement

You would start to feel your baby’s movement in your womb from around 20 weeks of pregnancy. It’s quite common that the baby would move less when he’s sleeping in your womb, but if your unborn baby suddenly moves less or does not move at all, it should be reason for concern. It may indicate that your baby is in distress. According to the American Congress of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (ACOG) you should count how long it takes for your baby to do 10 kicks. This should be less than 2 hours. If you notice a dramatic decrease in the number of kicks, or it takes longer than two hours to perform 10 kicks, you should have your doctor examine you and your baby.

Sudden release of water from the vagina

This usually happens later in pregnancy. If there is a sudden gush of fluid or even if you notice fluid dripping, this may indicate rupture of the membranes. If this happens, you should be examined by your doctor as soon as possible, because it significantly increases the risk of getting an infection. Occasionally urine leaking from your bladder can be confused with amniotic fluid leaking out. Your doctor will do a test to determine the origin of the fluid.

It is important to remember, that while there may be other causes for your symptoms that are worrisome, you should not neglect to get professional advice without delay. Being careful and always remembering to keep a watch about the danger signs will help you through this special time and avoid undue risks. It’s a good idea to share these information with your husband and other family members and make them also aware about these danger signs. And don’t forget to have the timely checkups as these can help in early diagnosis if something goes wrong. Hope you have a healthy pregnancy and become the proud mother of a healthy baby.