Even the slightest discharge of blood or instances of spotting during the course of pregnancy is enough to frighten any pregnant women. This is because most of us associate bleeding or spotting during early pregnancy with a miscarriage. Unfortunately, it is more common to see spotting during early pregnancy, as compared to the second and third trimester. Since there are several women that do not even know that they are pregnant for the first two weeks, many assume that they have begun their periods.
However, there could be several factors that could lead to spotting during early pregnancy and while some of them could be a major cause for concern, others could be due to harmless factors.
Implantation bleeding takes place when a fertilized egg gets burrowed into the lining of the uterus. Since this happens within a few days after fertilization, the spotting generally takes place around 2 or at the latest 3 weeks, after pregnancy.
Sometimes, women notice spotting during early pregnancy 5 weeks in case they are suffering from an ectopic pregnancy. This means that the fertilized egg gets implanted in an area that is outside of the uterus, which in most cases, is the fallopian tubes. In case the spotting or bleeding is accompanied by symptoms like sharp pain in the abdomen or dizziness, it is important to seek immediate medical care attention.
At times, women may experience spotting during early pregnancy 6 weeks as a symptom of an early miscarriage. Within a matter of days or maybe even hours, the spotting turns to full fledged bleeding.
During pregnancy, the supply of blood to the cervix is much higher than normal. Therefore, engaging in sexual activity can lead to some amount of bleeding afterwards. In case this happens women should let their health care providers know that they had had sex just before the bleeding occurred.
Some times, an internal check up or a pap smear test could also lead to vaginal bleeding. This is generally not a cause for concern.
There are several occasions when a woman may have spotting or bleeding during pregnancy for no apparent reason. Studies indicate that several women have experienced bleeding or spotting during pregnancy but have gone on to have perfectly healthy and normal babies. Nevertheless, any instances of bleeding or spotting during early pregnancy should be investigated by a doctor at the earliest.
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