Pregnancy symptoms that need help

Call 999 now in the UK, 911 in the US, or your local emergency number if you have heavy vaginal bleeding, or bleeding with severe tummy pain, shoulder pain or feeling faint. The same goes for severe difficulty breathing, passing out, or chest pain with breathlessness, feeling faint or a painful swollen leg. These symptoms need emergency help at any stage of pregnancy.

Emergency help comes before a maternity call

Heavy bleeding includes soaking a period pad soon after you put it on. You don’t need to wait and measure how much blood you’ve lost. The NHS also lists bleeding with dizziness, feeling sick or passing out among its emergency signs.

Call emergency services if you think a life is in danger. If you think your baby is coming now and you have a strong urge to push, the NHS advises calling an ambulance. Use 999 in the UK, 911 in the US or your local emergency number.

Call the maternity team now for these changes

Call your midwife or maternity unit now in the UK, your obstetric clinician in the US, or your doctor or midwife elsewhere if your baby moves less than usual, stops moving or changes their usual pattern. Don’t wait until tomorrow, even at night. A home kit for listening to the heartbeat can’t reliably check your baby’s health.

Call now for a severe headache that won’t settle, blurred vision or flashing lights, pain below the ribs, sudden swelling of the face, hands or feet, or feeling very unwell. These need checking straight away, including for pre-eclampsia (a serious condition linked to high blood pressure). Heartburn that doesn’t go away with heartburn medicine is also on the NHS list of warning signs.

Get urgent medical help now for itchy palms or soles, itching that’s worse at night, or skin so itchy it keeps you awake. Call your maternity unit or pregnancy clinician. In the UK, call NHS 111 if you can’t reach the unit. These symptoms need checking for intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, a liver condition that needs treatment.

Call your maternity unit or pregnancy clinician straight away if you have a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or if vomiting means you can’t keep water or other drinks down. CDC lists these among urgent warning signs in pregnancy and advises getting medical care straight away. Get care straight away too for a leg that is painful, swollen or red, especially on one side. The same goes for new chest pain, a racing or irregular heartbeat, sudden breathlessness or trouble breathing when you lie flat.

Waters, contractions and pain

Call your midwife or maternity unit urgently if your waters break, or if you’re less than 37 weeks pregnant and think labour may be starting. In the US, call your obstetric clinician. Elsewhere, call your local maternity service. Don’t wait until the next day, or for contractions to follow a certain pattern.

Your waters may come as a trickle or a sudden gush. If you think they’ve broken, use a sanitary pad, not a tampon, and tell your maternity team. The team can tell you what checks you need. Don’t wait at home to see whether leaking fluid turns into labour.

Get medical care straight away for severe tummy pain that won’t go away, starts suddenly or gets worse. Do the same for pain at the tip of your shoulder that you can’t explain, even if there’s no vaginal bleeding. Call emergency services for severe pain with bleeding or feeling faint. A new severe pain needs checking, even if it feels like an ache you’ve had before.

Bleeding needs advice at any stage

Call your maternity unit now for vaginal bleeding later in pregnancy. Don’t wait until tomorrow, even at night. For spotting in early pregnancy, contact your early pregnancy service or maternity team for urgent advice. Do this even if you have no pain, or only mild tummy pain. In the UK, call NHS 111 if you don’t have a number for a maternity unit or can’t reach an early pregnancy unit. In the US, contact your obstetric clinician. Elsewhere, use your doctor, midwife or local urgent care. For heavy bleeding, or bleeding with severe pain or feeling faint, use the emergency advice above.

Early pregnancy units can help with problems such as spotting and mild tummy pain. The NHS says who to contact depends on how far along you are and on local services. Check your maternity notes or local service information for the right number. Use NHS 111 if you’re not sure. Outside the UK, ask your pregnancy care team which urgent service to use.

Urgent support for thoughts of harm

Get urgent mental health help now if you have thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, including frightening thoughts that come when you don’t want them. In England, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option. Elsewhere in the UK, contact your local urgent mental health service. In the US, call or text 988. Elsewhere, contact your doctor or local crisis service now.

Call 999 now (UK), 911 (US), or your local emergency number if you can’t keep yourself or someone else safe, or have seriously harmed yourself. In an emergency, don’t wait to reach a listening service.

In the UK, you can also call Samaritans on 116 123 for support.

Getting through and explaining the change

When you call, say you’re pregnant and explain the symptom you need help with. This list can’t cover every possible symptom. If something feels wrong, or you’re not sure how serious it is, contact a healthcare professional. In the UK, NHS 111 can help when your usual service is closed.

If your baby’s movements slow down again after you’ve been checked, call your maternity team again straight away. Having been checked before isn’t a reason to wait when something changes again. Keep the urgent contact number somewhere easy to find.