What is black vaginal bleeding during early pregnancy?

Pregnancy is a very important thing for women and the entire family. In order to allow the baby to come into this world smoothly, many women will pay close attention to their diet and daily life during pregnancy, for fear of causing threatened abortion. However, many women will encounter symptoms such as black vaginal bleeding in the early stages of pregnancy, and they are often always worried. Let's understand what is going on with black vaginal bleeding in the early stages of pregnancy.

What is black vaginal bleeding during early pregnancy?

1) Miscarriage

1. There are many reasons for miscarriage, mainly:

① Genetic defects prevent the embryo from developing normally; excessive exposure to harmful chemicals (such as arsenic, benzene, formaldehyde, ethylene oxide, etc.) and physical factors (such as radiation, noise and high temperature, etc.) cause miscarriage.

② Miscarriage may also occur if the mother suffers from severe systemic diseases, reproductive organ malformations or tumors, endocrine disorders, etc.

2. The main symptoms of miscarriage are vaginal bleeding and abdominal pain in early pregnancy.

According to the different stages of miscarriage development, miscarriage can be divided into threatened miscarriage, inevitable miscarriage, incomplete miscarriage and complete miscarriage. Generally, during the threatened abortion stage, vaginal bleeding is less and abdominal pain is mild. If there is no abnormality in the fetal development, the bleeding will stop after pregnancy preservation treatment and the pregnancy can continue. If the amount of bleeding is more than menstruation and is accompanied by severe abdominal pain, miscarriage is bound to occur and further treatment is required.

2) Ectopic pregnancy

Ectopic pregnancy is also called extrauterine pregnancy. It means that the fertilized egg fails to enter the uterus normally and implants in other parts of the uterine cavity (fallopian tube, uterine cornu, abdominal cavity or ovary). In layman's terms, the fertilized egg "sleeps" outside the uterus. The walls of these areas are thin and narrow. When the fertilized egg grows bigger, it will pass through the wall tube, destroy the blood vessels and cause heavy bleeding.

When an ectopic pregnancy occurs, vaginal bleeding usually occurs about 40 days after the menstrual period ends, often accompanied by dull pain, bloating, and heaviness in the lower abdomen. At this time, a urine pregnancy test may be positive, while an ultrasound examination may not reveal the embryonic sac of pregnancy in the uterine cavity, and abnormal tumors may often be found in the fallopian tube. When it grows to a certain size, the tissue around the implantation will be damaged and cause bleeding. If the ectopic pregnancy has ruptured, tearing pain may occur in one side of the lower abdomen, accompanied by dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. In severe cases, it may endanger the life of the expectant mother.

3) Hydatidiform mole

Hydatidiform mole is a type of malformed pregnancy. In the early stages of embryonic development, the trophoblastic cells of the pregnant woman's placenta proliferate abnormally and transform into clusters of connected blisters, which look a bit like grapes in appearance, so it is called hydatidiform mole. But until now, the medical community is still unclear about the cause of hydatidiform mole.

Vaginal bleeding in hydatidiform mole occurs later than in miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy, usually around 3 months. The amount of bleeding starts out small, then gradually increases, and even can lead to repeated heavy bleeding, at which time blister-like tissue can be seen in the blood. The uterus of a patient with hydatidiform mole generally grows faster than the corresponding pregnancy time. If such abnormal conditions occur after pregnancy, you should go to the hospital for treatment in time.

The second trimester of pregnancy is an important stage in which the baby in the belly grows and matures. When there are no warning signs, only severe pain and bleeding, if not treated in time, it may endanger the lives of the expectant mother and baby. Common diseases that cause bleeding during this period include placenta previa and placental abruption.

4) Placenta previa

Under normal circumstances, the placenta is attached to the body of the uterus. When placenta previa occurs, the placenta moves downward and attaches near the cervical opening. Patients experience unprovoked, painless, recurrent vaginal bleeding in the late pregnancy or before delivery. The amount of bleeding is small at first, but increases as the bleeding recurs. Due to repeated or heavy vaginal bleeding, patients may develop anemia, and in severe cases, shock may occur, which may also lead to fetal hypoxia or even death.

The diagnosis of placenta previa is not difficult. For patients with bleeding in late pregnancy, the location of the placenta can be determined through B-ultrasound examination. If placenta previa is confirmed, the doctor will take appropriate treatment based on the type of placenta previa to get the expectant mother and baby out of danger as soon as possible.

5) Placental abruption

Placental abruption is the partial or complete detachment of a normally located placenta from the uterine wall before the fetus is delivered. The placenta can be said to be the lifeline of the fetus. Once the placenta is detached, it may cause fetal death. Mild placental abruption causes less vaginal bleeding, mild abdominal pain, and poses less threat to pregnant women and fetuses. Severe placental abruption is often accompanied by internal bleeding and persistent abdominal pain in addition to vaginal bleeding. The patient's condition is critical and may go into shock within a short period of time, and the fetus may die due to lack of oxygen.

Most patients with placental abruption have obvious predisposing factors. The diagnosis can be confirmed based on medical history (such as severe pregnancy-induced hypertension syndrome, abdominal gravity impact), vaginal bleeding accompanied by abdominal pain, enlarged and tender uterus, changes in fetal heart rate, etc., combined with B-ultrasound examination. Placental abruption is an urgent condition with serious consequences. Once it occurs, you should go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment immediately.

Experts say that bleeding may occur at any time during pregnancy, and only by understanding the cause of bleeding can we do a good job of stopping the bleeding. Among them, bleeding caused by cervical erosion and hemorrhoids is more common. However, because the bleeding is small in these two situations, it is very easy to neglect treatment. Once the condition worsens, the heavy bleeding will cause anemia in the pregnant woman and affect the normal development of the baby.

6) Cervical erosion

Cervical erosion may cause more or less continuous bleeding throughout pregnancy. This bleeding is different from the bleeding caused by uterine contractions during spontaneous abortion, which causes the placenta to separate from the uterus. It will not directly affect the development of the fetus. As long as the bleeding is stopped in time, the pregnancy can still progress normally. If the bleeding is not stopped in time, it will affect normal pregnancy and eventually lead to miscarriage.

As the pregnancy period increases, the levels of estrogen and progesterone in the expectant mother's body continue to increase. Expectant mothers who already have cervical erosion will feel that the symptoms have significantly worsened, and vaginal bleeding is prone to occur at this time. In addition, excessive sexual activity and excessive intake of hot and irritating foods such as chocolate, chili peppers, and longan can also aggravate bleeding symptoms.

The above is an introduction to what causes black vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy. After understanding it, we know that there are many reasons for this phenomenon. We must go to a regular specialist hospital for examination and diagnosis. In addition, women must pay attention to their physical health during pregnancy. First of all, they must maintain a happy mood, not do strenuous exercise, and do regular prenatal examinations.