When to Worry About a Pregnancy Complication

During the nine months of pregnancy, a woman's mind is filled with the worry of pregnancy complications. Any number of potential problems can occur throughout the term, and the fatigue and hormone fluctuations during pregnancy can cause a woman to fret about potential issues more than she typically would. Fortunately, most pregnancy complications are rare, and very treatable if they are caught early. Since a woman is visiting her doctor on a very regular basis, problems are generally found quickly.

First Trimester Pregnancy Complications

One of the first pregnancy complications a woman must consider is bleeding during the early stages of pregnancy. Bleeding is not an uncommon occurrence, and most of the time it will stop on its own. Often it can simply be a sign of implantation of the embryo to the uterine wall. This type of bleeding usually will occur about the time the woman's menstrual period would be due to start.

In rarer cases, the bleeding can indicate that a miscarriage is imminent. In this situation there is rarely anything a doctor can do to prevent the miscarriage from taking place. In these instances, the embryo probably did not develop properly in the first place.

Second and Third Trimester Complications

There are a number of pregnancy complications that can arise during the second half of a woman's pregnancy. Blood pressure can become an issue if it gets too high in the later weeks. If left unchecked, elevated blood pressure can develop into more serious pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia. Another potential problem is gestational diabetes. This is usually checked by a woman's doctor during the middle of the term, and if it is detected, diet and exercise can generally keep it in check.

Most women will become concerned with preterm labor as the due date for the birth approaches. If a woman begins the labor process before it is considered safe for the baby to be born, treatments can be used to help keep the pregnancy intact until delivery becomes safer. Bed rest and sometimes medications can be prescribed in this situation, and careful monitoring by medical staff is important.

Although pregnancy complications will always be on an expectant mother's mind, most problems are rare and treatable. For most women who enter pregnancy with a healthy lifestyle and few medical problems prior to conception, pregnancy complications will never become a reality. Even so, most women will admit to breathing a sigh of relief once they successfully deliver healthy, bouncing babies.

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