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Warning signs at every stage, and what counts as today

One page, deliberately short, so that it is the one you remember.

Lesson 4 of 5

9 min Text

What this lesson says

  • Bleeding at any stage of pregnancy should be assessed rather than watched
  • Severe or persistent headache, visual disturbance or swelling that comes on suddenly needs same-day assessment
  • Reduced or changed baby movements in later pregnancy is a same-day call, every time
  • Fever, severe abdominal pain, fluid leaking, or pain on passing urine all need assessment
  • Being unsure is itself a good enough reason to ring

This is general education. It is not advice about your own situation, and it does not replace seeing a clinician.

Written lesson.
  1. 1. This lesson is short on purpose. It is the one worth remembering, and a long list is a list nobody recalls at eleven at night.
  2. 2. Contact your clinician or go to a facility the same day for: any bleeding from the vagina, at any stage. Severe abdominal pain, or pain that is constant rather than coming and going. Fluid leaking from the vagina. Fever. Pain or burning on passing urine, which in pregnancy is treated more seriously than it is otherwise.
  3. 3. Also the same day: a severe headache that does not settle, changes in your vision such as flashing lights or blurring, pain below the ribs, vomiting that has come on suddenly late in pregnancy, or swelling of the face, hands or feet that appears quickly. Those together are the pattern of a blood pressure condition that can develop without warning and that early treatment changes.
  4. 4. In later pregnancy, a reduction in your baby's movements or a change in the usual pattern is a same-day call every time. Not tomorrow, not at the next appointment, and not after trying cold drinks and lying down for an hour. Services expect these calls and would far rather have them.
  5. 5. Also worth acting on: feeling faint, a racing heart, breathlessness that is new or much worse, calf pain or swelling on one side, and any injury or fall.
  6. 6. And the one that covers everything else: if something feels wrong and you cannot name it, ring anyway. Being unsure is a sufficient reason. Nothing in this course can assess you, and this page is not a checklist to rule anything out with — it is a list of reasons to get someone who can.

All lessons in this course

  1. 1 The first trimester: booking, the early tests, and the symptoms nobody warns you about 12 min
  2. 2 The second trimester: scans, iron, and what the check-ups are for 11 min
  3. 3 The third trimester: monitoring, planning, and the decisions that come up 11 min
  4. 4 Warning signs at every stage, and what counts as today 9 min Reading now
  5. 5 Questions worth taking to each visit 9 min

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