Warning Signs During Pregnancy & After Labor
Warning Signs During Pregnancy
What are some warning signs of possible pregnancy complications? Certain signs should be reported to your healthcare provider right away during any stage of the pregnancy. These include the following:
- Bleeding or leaking fluid from the vagina
- Blurry or impaired vision
- Unusual or severe stomach pain or backaches
- Frequent, severe, and/or constant headaches
- Contractions, where your stomach muscles tighten, before 37 weeks that happen every 10 minutes or more often
- Decrease in baby’s movements after 28 weeks
- Dizziness
- Excessive vomiting and diarrhea
- Fever or chills
- Pain or burning with urination
- Swelling of face, fingers, and feet
- Inability to tolerate foods or liquids
- Muscular convulsions
- Have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby
For details on various pregnancy complications go to www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-complications.
Warning Signs After Labor & Delivery
Your body goes through lots of changes after giving birth, and it needs time to heal. It’s normal to feel some discomforts in the weeks after you give birth, like being sore and really tired. But some women have complications after having a baby that can cause serious, life-threatening health problems. If you’re worried about how you feel or you have pain or discomforts that don’t feel right, call your health care provider.
Don’t skip out on your postpartum care and check-ups. Postpartum care is important because new moms are at risk of serious and sometimes, life-threatening health complications in the days and weeks after giving birth. Too many new moms die from problems that could have been prevented.
In general, warning signs of serious health conditions include chest pain, trouble breathing, heavy bleeding and extreme pain. Life-threatening conditions that can happen after giving birth include infections, blood clots, postpartum depression and postpartum hemorrhage.
Call your provider if you have any of these signs or symptoms of a possible infection:
- Fever higher than 100.4 F.
- Discharge, pain or redness that doesn’t go away or gets worse around a c-section incision (cut), episiotomy or perineal tear.
- Pain or burning when you urinate (pee), pain in your lower back or side or needing to pee often.
- Red streaks on your breasts or lumps in your breast that are new and hurt.
- Vaginal discharge that smells bad.
For detailed information on postpartum warning signs go to www.marchofdimes.org/pregnancy/warning-signs-after-birth.aspx