Everything is expected to go well in pregnancy. From conception, passing through each trimester, you are supposed to have a smooth delivery, but that is not always the case.
Suppose you have some complications in your pregnancy (like overweight, health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure), you may likely experience symptoms and some complications along the way.
Sometimes, shockingly, women have been given a clean bill of health and for themselves and their babies.
But for some reason, they may also experience some complications. Women can experience some danger signs of pregnancy that indicate that something is not right. Either for the mother or the growing fetus.
The tricky thing is that, sometimes, these signs may seem like the regular pregnancy signs and symptoms to confuse women.
That is why this post highlights the difference and helps you know when to be wary and call the doctor or head to the hospital.
Signs Something Is Wrong With Your Baby While Pregnant
Sometimes, the signs of something wrong (with you or your baby) may be glaring, like, watery discharge tinged with blood or severe abdominal pains. Other times, the danger signs of pregnancy may not be obvious, like no fetal movement or no fetal heartbeat.
So if you do not know the danger signs of pregnancy, you may not know what and what not to expect.
Below are some tell-tale danger signs of pregnancy that may give you an indication that you or your baby is at risk.
1. No fetal movement
2. No fetal heartbeat
3. Intense cramp ls
4. Abdominal pain
5. Contractions
6. Excessive vomiting
7. Severe and unbearable backaches
8. Bleeding
9. Increasing blood pressure
10. Increased protein in the urine
11. Abdominal pain
12. Swollen face, leg, and feet
13. Excessive weight gain in a short time
14. Intense body itching
15. Increased vaginal discharge
16. A drastic weight loss
17. The baby bump is not increasing
18. You do not experience regular pregnancy symptoms
How Do I Know If Something Is Wrong With My Baby?
You can know when you notice any of these signs above. They indicate that something may be wrong with you or your baby, and when you visit your doctor, you will know what you or your baby is dealing with.
Let’s see in detail 10 Danger signs of pregnancy, what they may indicate, and what you should do when you notice any of these signs.
1. Bleeding
It is normal to experience light spots of blood in early pregnancy. This is called implantation bleeding. Implantation bleeding is when a fertilized egg is attached to the uterine wall. It is usually accompanied by bleeding.
The bleeding is generally light spots, and pain or contraction does not accompany it. Implantation bleeding usually occurs just around the time when the woman will experience her regular menstrual periods in early pregnancy.
But when you experience heavy to very heavy bleeding per vagina, accompanied by contractions, pain, cold, and fever, it is a danger sign of pregnancy.
It could denote so many things depending on the time of your pregnancy, like miscarriage, placenta Previa, placental abruption, or hormonal bleeding.
Miscarriage is defined as the end of a pregnancy before the 15th week of the pregnancy. Several factors cause it. A significant sign of miscarriage is bleeding. Placental abruption is the separation of part or all of the placentae from the uterus.
It occurs unexpectedly and after the 20th week of pregnancy. It shows a sign like bleeding, abdominal pain, and contraction, and it could cause stillbirth.
Placenta Previa; here, the placenta covers all or part of the cervix. Usually, the placenta should be at the upper part of the uterus.
Placenta Previa causes risk because the baby will not get sufficient oxygen and blood for optimal growth, and this causes problems during labor.
A tell-tale sign of placenta Previa is vaginal bleeding that may also be accompanied by contraction. All these are some of the possible causes of vaginal bleeding in pregnancy.
It is crucial to call your Healthcare provider and explain the symptom, or head to the hospital as the baby’s life may be at risk as it is a danger sign of pregnancy.
2. Severe Vomiting
If you vomit a few times a day in the first trimester and still go about your regular activity, you may not need to worry.
It is normal to experience morning sickness and to vomit a symptom in pregnancy. But vomiting could be a danger sign of pregnancy when it becomes so severe.
This condition is called hyperemesis gravidarum, and it occurs in some women. In this type of morning sickness, women experience other symptoms like dizziness, blood in the vomit, weakness, lack of appetite,e vomiting more than three times a day, nausea, chills, and fever.
This can lead to dehydration. The baby may not get the required nutrient needed in early pregnancy and a host of other factors.
While you can take some home remedies like ginger morning sickness and anti-nausea drugs, and morning sickness wristbands, it is best to consult your carer for appropriate management of this condition.
You may have to stay on complete bed rest and be given an intravenous fluid for rehydration and to restore the electrolytes.
You will also be given anti-nausea drugs to alleviate the symptoms of morning sickness and make you feel much better.
3. Abdominal Pains
By the tail end of your pregnancy, you may experience painless contractions, and as your pregnancy get bigger, you will experience stretching of the belly bump. These are painless. A sharp jabbing pain in the abdomen that is continuous is a danger sign of pregnancy.
Sometimes you may experience sharp pains at one side of your abdomen Or even both sides of your abdomen. Sometimes the pain may be above your pelvic bone.
You will not have to worry about this as it may be round ligament pain caused by the baby’s weight and many psychological and hormonal changes taking place in the body.
These things will be relieved by massaging or seeking appropriate pain relief medications approved in pregnancy. You can also use a warm compress on the area of the pain.
It gives a lot of relief. However, there is cause for worry when nothing you do relieves your abdominal pain and when the abdominal pain is accompanied by bleeding and cramps.
This may be a risk of miscarriage which is the termination of the pregnancy, or an ectopic pregnancy where the fertilized egg either implants the ovary, Fallopian tube, cervix, or abdomen Instead of the uterus.
The tell-tale sign is that it causes a lot of abdominal pains. It also causes pelvic pain that women cannot manage. Sometimes it does lead to vaginal bleeding. Another thing that may be the cause of abdominal pain is the corpus luteum cyst.
In severe cases where the corpus luteum cyst ruptures or twists the ovaries’ blood supply, it could cause pains like sharp abdominal pain or some severe pains accompanied by fainting or dizzy spells.
All these could be the reasons why women experience abdominal pain in pregnancy. Do not at any time try to manage these pains yourself.
If you are experiencing abdominal pain, seek your doctor for the appropriate way to manage the condition. Abdominal pains may also be a result of placental abruption or urinary tract infections.
4. An Excessive Weight Gain (Shown In Puffy Hands And Feet)
You may experience an increase in weight which is entirely normal as pregnant women are expected to add about 10 to 13 kg to their previous weight. However, when the weight becomes so rapid, it is a danger sign of pregnancy that one should watch out for.
Take note that this weight gain is not usually determined by how you eat. Most times, the face the hands, and feet are swollen. This is called edema.
Swelling of the feet and arms may indeed be expected in the mid-to-late pregnancy because of fluid retention caused by the baby’s weight.
Excessive swelling on the hands and feet is a tell-tale sign of preeclampsia, and it usually shows with other symptoms like dizziness, gastric pain, fainting spells. Preeclampsia is increased blood pressure and increased protein in the urine.
Abdominal pains and many other symptoms also accompany it. It usually occurs around the 20th week of pregnancy, and it can cause severe problems in the mother and the child if it is not managed correctly.
It can cause HELLP syndrome in the mother where there’s breakage of red blood cells and organ damage. It may lead to eclampsia (where the pregnant woman begins to have seizures) that is life-threatening.
It also causes reduced weight in the baby, and it may lead to preterm labor. All these are life-threatening, so this is a danger sign of pregnancy that should not be ignored.
Excessive weight gain should not be overlooked, especially as swollen legs and face, even swollen feet, dizziness, headache, and abdominal pains.
5. Continuous Backache
Backache is a typical pregnancy symptom that most of us are aware of. It is caused by the extra weight, the interplay of pregnancy hormones, and the numerous psychological processes in the body.
However, when it is continuous and doesn’t give relief even after several remedies, it becomes a danger sign of pregnancy that you should be wary of because it could mean that several things are happening.
Backache can signify miscarriage or preterm labor, kidney or bladder infection, cyst, etc. Miscarriage or preterm labor which is labor before the 16th week of pregnancy (for miscarriage) and the 37th week of pregnancy (for preterm labor), is accompanied by contractions and mild to intense bleeding, cramps, pelvic pressure, and backache. You may also have a cold and fever.
When you experience any of these symptoms, it is best to call your doctor to rule out any complications and to seek appropriate health care when necessary.
6. Blurred Vision
You may experience it as part of a typical pregnancy sign due to hormonal changes. Still, it could be a dangerous sign of pregnancy if it becomes very intense, especially when accompanied by constant headaches and dizziness.
It indicates that the pregnant woman is passing through a lot of stress, probably due to the demand to carry the baby’s extra load, work, and home stress.
So you may have to analyze your routine and make some lifestyle changes. Learn how to deal with Mom’s stress here. If the headache is consistent, you should see a doctor because it could signify preeclampsia, as discussed above, and it requires instant medical attention.
It may also be because of gestational diabetes, which is an inability for the body to regulate glucose levels, putting the mother at risk of other conditions like preeclampsia, preterm labor, congenital malformations, etc.
Gestational diabetes shows as other signs as fatigue, thirst, frequent urination, etc.
Avoid these risks, which could be life-threatening and cause severe complications to the mother and the unborn child. It is essential not to take this pregnancy danger sign for granted.
7. Copious Vaginal Discharge Or Fluid
Vaginal discharge may increase markedly in pregnancy. This increase is to prepare the body for labor, reduce the infection rate, protect the cervix, and maintain a healthy level of bacteria. It is also increased to cleanse the vagina, preventing or flushing out dead cells.
If the vagina discharge is more watery, it gushes out or comes out in trickles and most times tinged with blood or mucus, and you are close to your due date, it could be a danger sign of pregnancy.
This signifies several complications: preterm labor, preterm rupture of membrane miscarriage, placental abruption, leaky bladder, or watery mucus. If you experience these signs, be watchful and monitor the discharge closely.
Suppose it becomes very intense and accompanied by blood, contractions, backache, and headache. In that case, it may mean that some of these underlying conditions are present, so you have to contact your doctor or nurse, or midwife or take appropriate action to avoid the risks of losing your baby.
8. No Fetal Movement
As a sign of healthy pregnancy and a sign that the baby in the womb is healthy, you should experience fetal movement every day or every other day, which women experience from the early 16th week of pregnancy.
Though most women experience it more from at the 20th to 22nd week of pregnancy. At the end of the last trimester, you might experience lesser movement, and this is normal.
What is not normal is when you do not feel your baby move for days or weeks. This is a danger sign of pregnancy and something you should be wary of.
Since the baby’s movement shows signs of growth, activity, and strength, it becomes alarming when you experience no fetal movement.
An abnormal fetal movement may mean one of these conditions; fetal distress, an infection, low amniotic fluid volume, anterior placenta, slowed movement, decreased oxygen levels, abnormal heart rate.
Fetal distress indicates that the baby’s health is at risk close to delivery or when labor is not going typically. A tell-tale sign is that the fetus experience reduced movement or reduced or significantly increased fetal heartbeat.
Another reason could be infection, probably due to pelvic inflammatory infections or decreased amniotic fluid called oligohydramnios. This may be because of the reduced fluid intake by the mother, which causes dehydration.
It may also be probably due to the rupture of the membrane and placental insufficiency, which can cause reduced activity in the fetus.
It is risky for the baby. To keep count of your baby’s movement In pregnancy, know that you will likely experience the first kick called quickening in the 16th to 22nd week of pregnancy.
Try to track your baby’s movement because babies have time for rest and activity like we do, just that it may vary from our own.
To track your baby’s movement, take some cold or sweet drinks and the time your baby.
In the next 2 hours, your baby should move about 10 to 30 times. Do this when you are relaxed and without noise so you can get accuracy.If you notice no movement despite doing this, head to the hospital immediately or call your doctor.
9. Regular Contractions
If you are not close to your due date and experience frequent contractions, accompanied by cramps and pain, you should be wary as this may be a sign of preterm labor or miscarriage that you should not take for granted.
Please take note; the contraction is different from Braxton Hicks contractions which is painless contraction, experienced like a tightening in the abdomen, and it eases after a few minutes.
If you experience mild to intense contractions, especially if accompanied by leg weakness, backache, waist pain, watery discharge with traces of blood, and cramps, you should alert your doctor.
Contractions may also be a sign of gastric upsets. To be sure of what it is and what it is not, see your doctor tell you if it is something to worry about or not.
10. Rashes And Itching In The Body
It is relatively normal to experience itching in the skin during pregnancy. Rashes accompany it, and it can be discomforting.
Temperature changes in pregnancy, dehydration, and hormonal changes will lead to women having dry and flaky skin and having itchy all over their bodies.
These conditions may also cause rashes in pregnancy, pimples, eczema, and other skin conditions.
You should seek your doctor’s attention when the itching becomes unbearable or when you’ve developed minor red itchy rashes on the skin called Puritic utricle papulous and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP).
Itching and rashes may also be that you are having a condition called cholestasis of pregnancy is a liver condition where the amount of bile in the liver.
It Increases because of the Increase in pregnancy hormone, Which may lead to risks of preterm labor if it is not appropriately managed.
Usually, itching can run all over the skin in the hands and legs, etc. With a test done, the doctor can tell the cause of the itching and give appropriate relief methods like drugs, moisturizers, and anti-itch creams to help the itching and rashes.
Experiencing one or more of these signs may not always mean danger, but you can never be too sure. Therefore, talking to your doctor immediately after you feel these danger signs of pregnancy or other strange symptoms is essential.
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