Spotting During Pregnancyby Pattie Hughes | More from this Blogger 21 May 2006 01:41 PM Spotting is very light bleeding. About a quarter of all pregnant women experience spotting at some point in pregnancy. It is similar to what you may experience at the beginning or end of your pregnancy. The color can vary from light pink to brown. There are a variety of reasons for spotting during pregnancy. Some are normal and turn out to be no cause for alarm. At other times, spotting can indicate a problem with the pregnancy. To be on the safe side, you should call your doctor or midwife right away whenever you experience spotting during pregnancy. Causes of Spotting: Miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy can cause spotting. About half the women who experience spotting go on to have normal pregnancies. Unfortunately, the other half may end up with either an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage. When an ultrasound shows a fetal heartbeat between seven and eleven weeks gestation, there is a good chance the baby will be fine. You may experience spotting after a vaginal exam or pap smear. Hormonal changes cause the cervix to become more sensitive. As a result, you may spot after an exam. Certain infections can cause spotting. Vaginal infections or sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhea, chlamydia or herpes can cause spotting. An exam and routine testing early in pregnancy often diagnose these conditions. Implantation bleeding is a less common and less serious cause of spotting. This type of bleeding generally happens around the time of a missed period. It's caused by the fertilized egg implanting into the side of the uterus. This spotting usually only lasts for a day or two. Problems with the placenta can cause spotting. Placenta previa occurs when the placenta grows over the opening of the cervix. Placenta abruption occurs when part of the placenta separates from the side of the uterus. Both of these conditions are potentially very serious. In late pregnancy, spotting can be a sign that labor is starting. A small amount of bleeding at this time is known as bloody show. It's a sign you are losing your mucous plug. This can happen at the beginning of labor or up to a week or two ahead of labor. There are some cases where the cause of spotting is unknown. The doctor won't be able to figure out what caused it to start. In the vast majority of these cases, the pregnancy continues and the baby turns out to be fine. The best thing to do with any kind of spotting is to notify your health care practitioner right away. An exam will be performed to assess the health of the baby and the cause of the spotting. If it turns out to be nothing, at least your mind will be at ease. Learn more about Pattie Hughes  Pattie Hughes is a freelance writer and mother of four young children. She and her husband have been married since 1992. Pattie holds a degree in Elementary Education from Florida Atlantic University. Relevantpregnancy tags User Comments  Miriam Metzinger (174) 22 May 2006 07:57 PMI did a lot of searches just to find the same amount of information you compressed into one article. Congratuations, and thank you! Miriam m. Andrea M (2525) 13 Jun 2006 10:13 AMI have had spotting with all three of my pregnancies! First and second pregnancies turned out to be implantation bleeding and the third pregnancy turned out to be a bit more serious! I had placenta previa EARLY on in the pregnancy and was put on MANY restrictions. The placenta did eventually move or migrate and I was able to have a vaginal delivery! Now I did have a miscarriage in between my first and second pregnancies and I started spotting at 12 weeks. I had a blighted ovum and my body was not going to let go of that pregnancy so a DNC was in order! carolynev (5) 10 Jul 2007 01:30 PMi had light brown spotting one week before my period is due im not sure if this can be implantation spotting..its been two days it has not become heavy period... Community Tags complications, pregnancy, pregnancy problems, spotting Discuss this article
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