Joint project with

When should I go to the Hospital?

Reading time: 2 min

It is common to have mild symptoms during pregnancy, such as heartburn, nausea and vomiting, caries, slight swelling of the feet or legs, as well as constipation.

It is advised to go to the emergency department when any of the following situations occur at any time during pregnancy, as they are considered alarm signs that may requires a special assessment:

Regular or painful contractions before week 37. During the pregnancy you might experience occasional mild contractions, called Braxton Hicks, which are considered normal.

Vaginal losses of blood or fluid.

Abdominal pains.

Fever.

Intense headache.

Changes in vision.

Urinary discomforts.

Less foetal movements. From week 24 of the pregnancy, you should be able to notice the movements of your baby daily. Thus, you should consult if:

You do not notice any movements at 24 weeks.
You notice a change in the usual pattern of the movements.
You have any doubts. In this sense, it is advisable to stretch the left hand side after a main meal and count at least 10 movements during two hours.

Abortion

An abortion is the interruption and premature termination of the pregnancy naturally or voluntary.

A spontaneous abortion or natural abortion (miscarriage) is one that is not provoked intentionally. The most usual cause is foetal death, due to congenital anomalies of the foetus, usually genetic. In other cases, it is due to abnormalities of the reproductive tract, or systemic disease of the mother, or infectious diseases.

When the gestational age is greater than 22 weeks or the weight of the foetus exceeds 500 grams, it is called foetal death. Among the signs and symptoms are abnormal transvaginal bleeding, which has to be assessed by a gynaecologist and check that there are no placental remains.

Substantiated information by:

Anna Sandra Hernández Aguado Gynecologist Gynecology Department

Isabel Benito Díaz Midwife Gynecology Department

Maria Àngels Martínez Verdú Midwife Gynecology Department

Published: 20 February 2018
Updated: 20 February 2018

The donations that can be done through this webpage are exclusively for the benefit of Hospital Clínic of Barcelona through Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica and not for BBVA Foundation, entity that collaborates with the project of PortalClínic.

Receive the latest updates related to this content.