Associated symptoms

Usually the mother ligaments are pulled during pregnancy. Accompanying symptoms can then be general malaise, (morning) nausea and faster exhaustion. Headaches can also occur.

However, the complaints need not be associated with other symptoms. If there is no pregnancy and abdominal pain occurs nevertheless, other causes must be excluded. If accompanying symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, chills, burning sensation when urinating or vaginal bleeding occur, a medical examination should be performed.

For example, this could be an infection in the urogenital area, a gastrointestinal infection, appendicitis, diverticulitis or an ectopic pregnancy. Even if the complaints usually have harmless causes, a potentially serious illness should not be disregarded, especially if the symptoms persist or the intensity of the complaints increases. A pulling of the mother ligaments only on the right side may well occur in the course of a pregnancy.

Depending on the body position of the pregnant woman and the position of the child in the uterus, different pulling forces are exerted on the ligamentous apparatus of the uterus. In principle, however, other causes for the pain should also be considered, especially if the pain exists without an existing pregnancy and/or is persistent. In the case of right-sided lower abdominal pain, important differential diagnoses include appendicitis (inflammation of the appendix), (pedunculated) ovarian cysts, an ectopic pregnancy or an inguinal hernia.

In particular, if other complaints are added, such as fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, chills or other symptoms, a medical clarification should be made. The mother ligaments can also pull only on the left side.Particularly during pregnancy – as is also the case with complaints on the right side – certain body positions of the pregnant woman or special positioning or kicking of the child in the uterus can lead to a particular stretching of the left-sided ligament structures, causing pain only there. Here too, however, in the case of left-sided lower abdominal pain, other causes for the complaints can also be considered, which require medical clarification, especially in the case of persistent and severe pain or if the pain occurs outside of a pregnancy. Thus, important differential diagnoses of left lower abdominal pain include diverticulitis (inflammation of protrusions of the intestinal mucosa), ovarian cysts, ectopic pregnancy, infection in the urogenital region or an inguinal hernia. In case of additional symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, blood in the stool, burning sensation when urinating or vaginal bleeding, a doctor should be consulted.