Last updated on July 26th, 2018 at 04:57 pm<\/p>
Question: What causes upper abdominal pain during pregnancy?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Whether you are in your first, second or third trimester of pregnancy, having to deal with any form of abdominal pain will get you concerned about the well being of your baby.<\/p>\n The truth is, most women who get pregnant will experience some form of pain\/cramps in their abdomen that may also radiate to other parts of the body.<\/p>\n In the first trimester, abdominal cramps could be a sign of pregnancy. In the second and third trimester of pregnancy, it is not abnormal for women to experience irregular, unpredictable contractions (Braxton hicks contractions) or abdominal pain attributed to gas formation, constipation and stretching of the supportive uterine ligaments.<\/p>\n Having said that, upper abdominal pain during pregnancy may be due to serious health issues. In the first trimester, abdominal pain can be the first sign of a miscarriage. Also, ectopic pregnancy, which affects one in fifty pregnant women, may also cause abdominal pain.<\/p>\n In the second trimester, strong uterine contractions and dilated cervix precede preterm deliveries. Other serious causes of abdominal pain during pregnancy are Preeclampsia (raised blood pressure while pregnant), urinary tract infections, gallbladder infections, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).<\/p>\n This article explains causes of upper abdominal pain during pregnancy and simple lifestyle changes that can make your pain go away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Like already mentioned, pain in the abdominal is not unusual during pregnancy. In fact, most experienced mothers ignore mild abdominal pain and only inform their doctor or midwife if the pain gets too severe, or if they experience vaginal bleeding, body weakness, fever or vomiting.<\/p>\n Here are causes of upper abdominal cramps while pregnant.<\/p>\n One common reason women have abdominal discomfort, especially in the second and third trimester of pregnancy, is increasing the size of the uterus. As your baby grows, the womb expands and occupies much more intra-abdominal space.<\/p>\n As a result, you could feel abdominal discomfort. You should inform your doctor if pains get worse.<\/p>\n During pregnancy, your hormones spike up and could interfere with normal intestinal movement.<\/p>\n Estrogen and progesterone are elevated once you get pregnant and can slow down the movement of food within your intestines. Because of this, its take quite a long time for intra-abdominal content to be expelled through your anus. This, and the compressive effect of your growing uterus, will allow constipation to set in.<\/p>\n Constipation and gas can easily make you feel uncomfortable with pain in your abdomen. If symptoms get worse, I recommend you see your doctor for help.<\/p>\n Usually, taking fiber diets, vegetables, drinking lots of water, or cessation of your iron supplements (please inform your doctor first)<\/em> may ease your pain.<\/p>\n Another reason you will feel a sharp pain in your abdomen is stretching of\u00a0the round ligament that supports the uterus.<\/p>\n The round ligament supports the uterus and originates from the upper part of the womb (where your fallopian use fuses with the body of the uterus) and attaches at the mons pubis.<\/p>\n During pregnancy, this ligament is stretched as your baby increased in size. Because of this, its common for women in the second and third trimester to experience abdominal pain, back pain, and buttocks pain.<\/p>\n Ectopic pregnancy is a common cause of abdominal pain during pregnancy and occurs when your baby grows outside the uterus. Abdominal cramps due to ectopic pregnancy happen in the first trimester, usually before the 11th week of pregnancy.<\/p>\n In ectopic pregnancies, the baby is situated in the fallopian tube and cause severe cramps if the fallopian tube burst open and bleed into the abdomen.<\/p>\n Risk factor for developing an ectopic are previous untreated pelvic infections that affected your fallopian tubes, chlamydia and gonorrhea infections, and women with prior history of fallopian tube surgery.<\/p>\n Symptoms include abdominal cramps with or without vaginal bleeding, though you may also feel fatigue, dizziness, fast heart\/pulse rate depending on the severity of bleeding.<\/p>\n If you are in the first trimester and have mild to severe abdominal cramps, it could be an early warning sign of a miscarriage.<\/p>\n A miscarriage means your pregnancy stop and the baby dies with severe intermittent contraction-like belly cramps. Other symptoms of a miscarriage are disappearing pregnancy symptoms, vaginal bleeding (usually in clots), body weakness, back pain, and abdominal cramps.<\/p>\n About 20 to 30 percent of pregnancies will end in a miscarriage; So, inform your doctor, especially if you’ve had a miscarriage in previous pregnancy.<\/p>\n One common cause of burning upper abdominal pain during pregnancy is gastroesophageal reflux disease.<\/p>\n Within your thoracic cavity (oh, I mean your chest wall) is a vertical tubing that carries food from your mouth to your stomach. This is called the esophagus, and within its lower end is a sphincter that involuntarily controls the movement of food.<\/p>\n After the passage of food into your stomach, the esophageal sphincter closes up, prevent backward movement of food into your esophagus.<\/p>\n If this sphincter goes defective, it could cause movement of acidic stomach content into the esophagus resulting in inflammation and lower chest\/ upper abdominal pain.<\/p>\n Other factors that could affect the lower esophageal splinter are pregnancy hormones and increased pressure\u00a0inside the abdomen due to the growing uterus.<\/p>\n Other symptoms of GERD are cough, lack of appetite, difficulty swallowing, and poor night sleep.<\/p>\n<\/span>What causes upper abdominal pain during pregnancy<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>1.\u00a0 Pressure effect of growing uterus<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>2.\u00a0 Progesterone effect<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>3.\u00a0 Round ligament stretching<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>4.\u00a0 Ectopic pregnancy<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>5.\u00a0 Miscarriage<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>6.\u00a0 GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease)<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/span>7.\u00a0 Gallbladder infection<\/span><\/h3>\n