During the first trimester (12 weeks) of pregnancy, many women may experience morning sickness, pain, bleeding, feeling bloated and very tired. Your obstetrician can help you with navigating all these issues.
Morning Sickness
Morning sickness (nausea and vomiting) is common, affecting up to 70% of women. Most symptoms will settle by 16 weeks. It is important to know that although we call it “morning sickness”, a lot of women have nausea and vomiting throughout the day.
There are various simple ways of managing morning sickness. Eating small quantities of food throughout the day may help. You may be more sensitive to strong food smells, fatty, spicy or fried food and avoiding them may help. Some women find having ginger tea helps.
Morning sickness may cause dehydration and it’s important to drink plenty of fluids. You do not need to have large amounts each time - small sips throughout the day is also acceptable. To help with nutrition, you may also take pregnancy supplements, especially folate.
Your obstetrician or GP may prescribe anti nausea medication to help with your vomiting. These medications are safe to use in pregnancy.
Pain & Bleeding
Pain and bleeding during the first trimester is not uncommon and it does not mean you’re having a miscarriage. Many women will continue their pregnancy and have normal and healthy babies.
As pain and bleeding is a potential sign of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, your obstetrician may need to investigate and diagnose accordingly.
If you’re having heavy bleeding, passing clots, have significant pain and feel dizzy, seek urgent advice from your local Emergency Department. Otherwise, you may make an appointment with your GP or check with your obstetrician during your next antenatal visit.
Your obstetrician may do a couple things to investigate your pain and bleeding. We will take a history of when the bleeding occurred and if you have any other symptoms i.e. pain. We may also examine your cervix and uterus. We’ll also perform an ultrasound to make sure the fetus is in the right location and check for a heartbeat.
A blood test may also be done including checking your pregnancy hormone (BhCG) levels, blood count and blood group (if not already known).
Once the results are back and if everything is normal, we will continue to monitor during your antenatal visits.
If you would like more information or to make an appointment, please give our rooms a call at 02 9629 3559.
Dr Adeline Chan's consulting rooms are conveniently located within Norwest Private Hospital in Bella Vista.