“Getting pregnant” may have taken you a while to plan for; So, any vaginal bleeding or tummy pain during pregnancy may get you quickly concerned.
At 11 weeks of pregnancy, you are near the end of your first trimester, and in actual fact, it is not common that women will have a miscarriage during this time. The risk is now much lower than in the very early weeks, but it is not zero.
If you noticed pain in the lower part of your abdomen or experience mild to moderate vaginal bleeding, it’s normal you quickly want to check with your doctor if your baby is okay.
The truth is, belly aches and spotting are common while pregnant and may possibly not be caused by a miscarriage. However, they should always be checked because, in some women, they can be a sign of miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy.
Sexual intercourse may hurt your vagina or cervix and cause vaginal spotting. It’s also possible you recently had a clinic visit about some other problem, and during a vaginal examination, you got a minor injury with spotting. If this happens, it’s little or nothing serious in most cases and bleeding should end quickly.
Your vaginal wall and cervical glands are now much perfused with blood at 11 weeks, and this means, any slight trauma to these areas (the vagina and cervix) will cause you to bleed.
Nevertheless, spotting and cramps, sometimes with mild or severe back pain, are often the earliest signs you will experience during a miscarriage.
Therefore, it’s important, irrespective of the reason you are spotting, to tell your doctor quickly of any blood on your vaginal mucus.
Here’s an email I received from Patrick
Hi Doc
My wife is 11 weeks 4 days pregnant and already had 2 ultrasound scans with our family doctor. She says that baby is doing fine.
Just yesterday, she had a pinkish discharge, and this morning, she is still spotting. Is this normal, what should I do?
If you are 11 weeks pregnant, a pinkish or brownish vaginal discharge is because of mild vaginal spotting. You should talk to your doctor too. Severe abdominal pain, cramps, bleeding and back pain, are frequently experienced by mothers who lose their baby, especially if the bleeding is heavy or you are passing clots or tissue.
If you are still worried about having a miscarriage at 11 weeks, remember that miscarriage statistics and data show it’s less likely you will lose your baby at this stage. At this time, you already notice a slight bump in your lower abdomen, your baby is growing (with a heartbeat), and it’s normal that you are already excited.
This article explains the causes, symptoms, and signs of miscarriage at 11 weeks pregnant.
What are the early miscarriage signs?
1. Vaginal bleeding at 11 weeks
Bleeding from the vagina is the most common miscarriage symptom a lot of women will experience. If you do, and you notice heavy bleeding with blood clots or greyish tissue, it’s likely your baby is being washed out from your womb.
Sometimes, women may experience complete expulsion of the uterine content with both membranes and baby coming out after severe belly cramps and heavy or light vaginal bleeding.
If you are bleeding at 11 weeks, you should talk to your OBS/GYN doctor close to you. It may or may not be due to a miscarriage, and remember that the chances of miscarriage at 11 weeks is quite slim. Your doctor will also want to rule out an ectopic pregnancy or other causes of bleeding.
Within the first three months after conception, about 30 percent of pregnant women will have vaginal spotting, and the truth is, most of these women will not have a miscarriage.
(Helpful patient information on bleeding and pain in early pregnancy: https://www.rcog.org.uk/for-the-public/browse-our-patient-information/bleeding-andor-pain-in-early-pregnancy/)
Sexual intercourse, vaginal infections, traumatized vagina and cervix and a Pap smear, may cause spotting for hours or days. Talk to you doctor for evaluation and detection of the cause of bleeding.
2. Abdominal pain that may be severe
Mild belly cramps for a while is not uncommon during the early weeks of pregnancy; So, don’t begin to feel you are losing your baby after minor stomach pain.
However, if cramps now become very sharp, persistent and happening together with vaginal bleeding, something is wrong; you need to see your doctor or go to the hospital urgently to rule out a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.
3. You suddenly don’t feel pregnant anymore
At 11 weeks of pregnancy, you will have tested and confirmed pregnancy. During this time, you already have obvious pregnancy symptoms due to hormonal changes that affect your body and mood.
At first, you’ve missed your period for about seven weeks now, and your breast hurts on the sides as it begins to increase in size. Another symptom at 11 weeks is nausea and vomiting that you’ve already been experiencing from 4th to 9th weeks of pregnancy. Others are Body tiredness, small belly bump, frequent urination and sometimes constipation.
If suddenly these symptoms begin to wane, and you don’t feel like you are pregnant anymore, it’s possible you’ve had a miscarriage, especially if you are bleeding with abdominal pain. However, sometimes pregnancy symptoms naturally reduce as you get closer to the second trimester, so a change in symptoms alone does not confirm a miscarriage. Only an ultrasound scan and review by your doctor can tell for sure.
What provokes a miscarriage at 11 weeks of pregnancy?
1. Chromosomal abnormalities
Though not too common, a miscarriage can happen at 11 weeks, and most times it will not be due to what you did or did not do.
During the first trimester, and at the 11 weeks of pregnancy, chromosomal changes are the most common reason why women will lose their babies. This occurs if the “building unit” of your baby called chromosomes, has much more or less the required genetic material for your baby’s development. About half of early miscarriages are due to this kind of problem and are not caused by stress, sex or light activity.
Other causes are
2. Drinking too much alcohol
If you become pregnant, some lifestyles before pregnancy may cause you to miscarry if you do not stop.
Major health organizations now advise that there is no known safe amount of alcohol in pregnancy, so the safest option is to avoid alcohol completely once you are trying to conceive or know you are pregnant. Heavy or binge drinking clearly increases the risk of miscarriage and other problems for your baby.
(Read more: CDC – Alcohol use during pregnancy: https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol-pregnancy/about/index.html)
3. Smoking cigarette during pregnancy
Smoking, just like alcohol intake, is dangerous especially in the first trimester of pregnancy. It could result in pregnancy loss or complications in pregnancy.
This is because plenty of chemicals in cigarette (such as nicotine, cyanide, and arsenic) reduces the supply of blood, oxygen, and nutrients to your developing baby.
The truth is, if you do not have a miscarriage in the first trimester, smoking may pose a risk to your baby later during pregnancy. Premature birth, low birth weight, and small babies are attributed to smoking.
Therefore, if you don’t want to lose your baby, it’s time to quit smoking. This guide will help.
(For more on smoking, alcohol and drugs in pregnancy, see: https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/tobacco-alcohol-drugs-and-pregnancy)
4. Ingestion of too much caffeine (more than about 300 mg daily)
High caffeine intake (more than about 300 mg per day) has been linked in some studies to a higher chance of miscarriage. Most guidelines advise limiting caffeine to about 200 mg per day (around one regular mug of coffee) while pregnant.
5. Direct trauma or accident that affected your abdomen
6. Hormonal problems
7. Abnormal uterus
8. Hypertension, diabetes and thyroid diseases
9. Vaginal infections
These conditions may increase the risk of miscarriage and should be monitored and treated by your doctor before and during pregnancy.
What are the chances and rate of miscarriage at 11 weeks?
Though a lot of women will lose their baby in the early part of the first trimester, towards the end, and at 11 weeks pregnant, the chance of a miscarriage is around 1–2 percent for women who have already seen a heartbeat on scan and have no major health problems.
Therefore, don’t panic if you notice mild cramps and bleeding. Though, as previously explained, you must see your doctor for evaluation.
(General information on miscarriage: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9688-miscarriage)
Dr Akatakpo Dunn is a Nigerian medical doctor, sonologist and Medical Director of Verah Clinic & Maternity in Warri, Nigeria. He holds an MBBS from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, a Postgraduate Diploma in Diagnostic Ultrasound (India) and a Professional Diploma in Obstetrics & Gynaecology (RCPI). Through Medplux, he explains women’s health, pregnancy, fertility and ultrasound in clear, practical language so readers can make informed decisions with their own doctors.
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