Associated symptoms
Upper abdominal pain during pregnancy can be accompanied by various accompanying symptoms, depending on the exact cause of the pain. If it is an infection, there is often additional discomfort, fever, aching limbs and a general feeling of weakness. Swelling of the lymph nodes can also occur.
Since upper abdominal pain in pregnancy always involves serious illnesses such as HELLP syndrome, it is important to pay attention to the symptoms associated with this. In addition to upper abdominal pain, these include water retention (edema during pregnancy), impaired vision, nausea, a yellowing of the skin (icterus) due to impaired liver function as well as diarrhea and/or vomiting. Liver enzymes are often elevated in the blood and the urine of pregnant women contains increased amounts of protein.
In addition, the blood platelets are reduced, which causes an increased tendency to bleed. The accompanying symptoms of upper abdominal pain during pregnancy can therefore provide important information about the cause of the pregnant woman’s symptoms. The treating physician should therefore be informed precisely of all observed symptoms in order to facilitate the diagnosis.
Pain in the stomach can be caused by several unpleasant symptoms of pregnancy. Above all heartburn and stomach cramps. In early pregnancy, stomach cramps are usually triggered by hormonal changes, later in the course of the pregnancy they are more likely to be caused by the growing unborn child, which restricts the stomach in its usual position.
Besides pain in the upper abdomen, heartburn causes very distinct burning pain behind the breastbone. The extreme form of morning sickness (= hyperemesis gravidarum) is very plaguing, which is particularly troublesome in the first trimester of pregnancy. It causes pain in the upper abdomen, accompanied by nausea and persistent vomiting. The nausea occurs throughout the day and often leads to continuous vomiting even at night. Of course, all causes that can occur independently of the pregnancy must be taken into consideration, because a pregnant woman can also have anything that non-pregnant women can have, from an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach to a stomach flu.
