Left lower abdominal pain in early pregnancy

Many people pay more attention to some changes in their bodies during pregnancy. For example, many pregnant women often experience severe morning sickness in the early stages of pregnancy. At this time, you should check whether there are gastrointestinal problems or whether the morning sickness is too strong. In addition, if you experience stabbing pain in the lower left abdomen in early pregnancy, you should also be careful about possible physiological pain or several traditional pathological factors.

Green light: Physiological abdominal pain

Early pregnancy reaction

In the early stages of pregnancy, many expectant mothers always feel some stomach pain, sometimes accompanied by early pregnancy reactions such as vomiting. This is mainly caused by increased gastric acid secretion in the early stages of pregnancy. At this time, you should pay attention to diet adjustment. The meals should be light and easy to digest. You can eat some toasted steamed bread slices or soda crackers for breakfast. The discomfort will disappear naturally as the first trimester ends.

An enlarged uterus presses on surrounding tissues

Early abdominal pain occurs during the 3rd to 4th month of pregnancy because the fetus grows relatively quickly at this time. The enlargement of the uterus causes mechanical traction on some tissues around the uterus, such as the ligaments that fix the uterus, the blood vessels that provide nutrients to the uterus, and the nerves that control the uterus. The organs around the uterus, such as the bladder and rectum, may also be squeezed by the enlarged uterus, causing lower abdominal pain. As the pregnancy progresses, pregnant women gradually adapt to it, and the abdominal pain in early pregnancy will be alleviated or disappear completely.

Early uterine contractions

In the early stages of pregnancy, you will experience abdominal pain and a feeling that your lower abdomen is falling down, which compresses your posterior spine. You will feel a sore waist, as if your whole body is being pulled down by it. At the beginning, the pain occurred two or three times in half an hour, each time lasting 45 seconds, which was still bearable. Later, it became twice in 10 minutes, each time lasting 2-3 minutes. Only then did it truly turn into effective uterine contraction, and the cervix would gradually open under such contraction. The contractions are infrequent, irregular and asymmetric. The intrauterine pressure is not high during contractions and they generally do not cause pain or cervical dilation.

Red light: pathological abdominal pain

If you experience abdominal pain in early pregnancy, especially lower abdominal pain, the first thing you should consider is whether it is a pregnancy complication.

Threatened abortion

Termination of pregnancy before 28 weeks of gestation and when the fetus weighs less than 1000g is called abortion. Depending on the progression of the disease and the severity of symptoms, spontaneous abortion can be divided into threatened abortion, inevitable abortion, incomplete abortion, complete abortion, and missed abortion.

If a pregnant woman experiences paroxysmal lower abdominal pain or regular abdominal pain, back pain, or pelvic pain in the first few months of pregnancy, the problem may be more complicated. If it is accompanied by vaginal spotting or a noticeable feeling of abdominal heaviness, it may indicate threatened miscarriage. Expectant mothers should move less, stay in bed more, avoid sexual intercourse, avoid lifting heavy objects, drink water, and seek medical attention promptly. If pain worsens or bleeding continues, seek medical attention immediately.

The symptoms of threatened abortion are a small amount of vaginal bleeding after menopause, which is often dark red or bloody leucorrhea, without the discharge of pregnancy products. Mild lower abdominal pain or lumbosacral pain may occur several hours to days after the bleeding. After rest and treatment, the symptoms will disappear and the pregnancy can continue. If the symptoms worsen, miscarriage may be inevitable.

Inevitable miscarriage is an increase in vaginal bleeding, aggravated abdominal pain or rupture of membranes on the basis of threatened miscarriage. At this time, miscarriage is inevitable, so it is also called inevitable miscarriage. At this time, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible to expel the residual tissue. If the placenta remains for too long, placental polyps may form, causing repeated bleeding, anemia and secondary infection, or leading to more serious incomplete miscarriage.

Incomplete abortion is characterized by continuous heavy bleeding, which may cause shock and is an emergency situation. If it occurs, you should go to the hospital immediately for treatment. Another outcome of inevitable miscarriage is complete miscarriage, in which the products of conception are completely expelled and the bleeding gradually stops. If there is no infection, no special treatment is required.