Abdominal Pain During Pregnancy

Abdominal (stomach) pain is discomfort anywhere in your belly region — between your ribs and your pelvis. During pregnancy, many changes to your body can cause pain in this area.

The two forces behind common causes of tummy pain in pregnancy are hormones and the growing fetus. Pregnancy hormones affect nearly all your tissues in one way or another — from relaxing your joints to slowing digestion.

Over time, the growing fetus and uterus take up more space in your belly, leaving less room for your other organs. You may start to feel more aches and pains from the pressure and stretching.

Abdominal pain during pregnancy can take many forms. It may feel:

• Crampy
• Dull
• Sharp
• Shooting
• Burning
• Achy

It can be hard to pinpoint abdominal pain because of all the organs and tissues in this area. But your pregnancy care provider is there to help. Try to be as specific as possible when describing your aches and pains, like noting when they happen and for how long. This can make it easier for your provider to narrow down the likely cause.

Knowing what’s normal and not harmful can help ease your worries. Your provider can also help you identify when abdominal pain may be a sign of pregnancy complications.

What are the most common causes of abdominal pain during pregnancy?

There are many common causes of abdominal pain during pregnancy:

• Cramps feel like a tightness or gripping sensation. You may feel mild, period-like cramps in your lower abdomen in the first trimester. This happens because your uterus is growing. If the cramps are brief and mild, it’s usually nothing to worry about.
• Bloating can cause your belly to feel full and tight. It’s very common during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. Hormones slow down your digestive system, resulting in this discomfort.
• Round ligament pain can feel like sharp and shooting pain in your abdomen, hip or groin area. You may feel it on one side of your body or both. It’s most common during the second trimester.
• Heartburn is a burning feeling that starts in your stomach or chest and seems to rise in your throat. It affects over half of pregnant women and is most common in the third trimester.
• Braxton Hicks contractions can feel like random tightness in your abdomen. They can be uncomfortable. But you should be able to talk and walk when you have one. They’re most common in the third trimester and often resolve if you drink water or change your position.
• Constipation can feel like fullness, pressure and cramping in your abdomen. Changing hormone levels and the added weight of the fetus can back up your bowels. Constipation can develop any time during pregnancy. But it most often happens in the third trimester.
• Urinary tract infections (UTIs) can cause lower abdominal pain and peeing changes, like urgency, frequency or pain with peeing. They’re very common during pregnancy. But they need medical treatment. Without treatment, a UTI can cause complications, like a kidney infection.

Aside from UTIs, these causes aren’t dangerous for you or the fetus. But it’s still worth talking to your healthcare provider if these issues are affecting your quality of life. Your provider can recommend home remedies and adjustments to help minimize your discomfort.

Other common causes of abdominal pain can affect you during pregnancy. They include conditions like stomach flu, indigestion and kidney stones.

Serious causes of abdominal pain during pregnancy

Sometimes, abdominal pain during pregnancy can be a sign of a serious complication that needs immediate treatment. These complications — which often have other symptoms, too — include:

• Ectopic pregnancy: This occurs very early in pregnancy when a fertilized egg implants in a location that can’t support its growth. You may have pain in your lower abdomen, pelvis and lower back. If your fallopian tube ruptures, you may have severe pain.
• Miscarriage: Ongoing cramping pains and bleeding before 20 weeks of pregnancy can be a sign of miscarriage or threatened miscarriage.
• Preeclampsia: Intense pain under your ribs, especially on the right side, can be a sign of preeclampsia. This is a complication of pregnancy that causes high blood pressure and protein in your pee.
• Placental abruption: This happens when the placenta starts to detach from your uterus. It can cause abdominal pain, back pain and contractions. You may also have vaginal bleeding.
• Preterm labor: Regular abdominal tightening (contractions) before 37 weeks of pregnancy may be a sign of preterm labor.

Go to the hospital if you think you have one of these complications.

When should this symptom be treated by a doctor or healthcare provider?

In most cases, belly pain is probably nothing to worry about if it’s mild and/or goes away when you:

• Change positions
• Rest
• Go poop or fart

But if you’re worried, call your healthcare provider for reassurance.

Go to the hospital if the abdominal pain is severe or doesn’t go away after 30 minutes. You should also go to the hospital if you have abdominal pain and:

• Vaginal spotting or bleeding
• Regular cramping
• Lower back pain
• Fever and chills
• Abnormal vaginal discharge or fluid leaking from your vagina
• Pain when you pee, or the need to pee suddenly or more often than usual

These could be symptoms of complications that need immediate treatment.