After attending the Urgent and Emergency Care Centre, you have been assessed as suitable and safe to go home with your pain and/or bleeding in early pregnancy. Y
Please contact the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit (EPAU), a service within the Gynaecology Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) unit that cares for pregnant people having complications in their pregnancy, for advice or support on 01709 427072.
What are the common causes of bleeding and pain in early pregnancy?
Some common causes of bleeding and pain in early pregnancy are:
- Bleeding from the implantation site (where the pregnancy has attached into the endometrium (lining of the womb). It may cause some blood vessels of the uterus (womb) to bleed. Miscarriage symptoms are sometimes called a 'threatened miscarriage', but it does not mean you definately will miscarry.
- Miscarriage - is a loss of pregnancy, which can cause vaginal bleeding and may include lower abdominal (tummy) pain or cramping.
- Ectopic pregnancy - a pregnancy outside of the uterus (womb), usually in a fallopian tube that carries the egg to the uterus from your ovaries. Symptoms include vaginal bleeding, abdominal pain, rectal (back passage) pain and diarrhoea (liquid poo).
- A haematoma - this is a small area of bleeding, like a bruise, next to the pregnancy. A haematoma may be reabsorbed by the body or come away naturally as vaginal blood loss.
- Trauma (damage) to your cervix (neck of the womb) - during pregnancy, tissues become rich in blood supply and soften. Because of this, any slight trauma to your cervix can cause bleeding. This may happen after sex.
- Infection in your vagina - common infections like thrush or other infections may cause bleeding from your vagina in small amounts described as ‘spotting’.
- Constipation - this is a common cause of pain in early pregnancy. Your bowel becomes lazy because of the effect of the pregnancy hormones, and you may find that you go to the toilet to open your bowels (have a poo) less often. This causes a build-up of poo in your bowel, which leads to abdominal (tummy) pain.
- Urine infection - this is common in pregnancy and can cause pain and bleeding.
What should I do next?
It is normal to feel anxious during this time, but there are many reasons why you can get pain and/or bleeding in early pregnancy.
If you feel that you need to rest, you can, but try to keep as active as you feel able to. There is not always a specific treatment to stop your bleeding and unfortunately, miscarriage cannot be prevented.
Taking pain relief such as paracetamol for any back or abdominal (tummy) pain you might have, is perfectly safe. It is important to only use sanitary pads and not tampons or menstrual cups if you have vaginal bleeding.
If you have had vaginal bleeding, please take another pregnancy test one week after the bleeding stops. If the pregnancy test is negative, or if the test is positive and you are still experiencing symptoms please contact EPAU, who will be able to offer you further advice and support.
What should I do if my symptoms change or I need further advice?
If your pain gets worse and is not managed with pain relief such as paracetamol, or your bleeding increases, please contact EPAU (Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm. Closed Bank holidays) or Ward B11 if outside of these times.
If you develop any of the following:
- very heavy bleeding
- severe abdominal pain
- shoulder tip pain
- fainting or a fever
seek help immediately by phoning 999 or come back to the Urgent and Emergency Care Centre.
Contact details
EPAU can be contacted on 01709 427072, Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm. Closed on Bank holidays.
Ward B11 (Gynaecology ward) can be contacted outside of these hours on 01709 424349 at any time.
Further information and support
Miscarriage Association and Tommy’s can provide further information and support.