Stomach pain during pregnancy in combination with nausea
If stomach pains occur during pregnancy together with nausea, this need not always be a cause for immediate concern – especially in early pregnancy – but should nevertheless lead to being somewhat more alert. Especially in early pregnancy, the hormonal changes (as described above) can under certain circumstances lead to stomach problems, but they can also cause so-called morning sickness. If, however, the stomach pain tends to occur during pregnancy together with nausea and may be accompanied by other symptoms such as fever and vomiting, it may also be necessary to consider less harmless causes.
For one thing, inflammation of the stomach (gastritis), stomach ulcers (ulcers), inflammation of the gall bladder/bile ducts (cholecystitis, cholangitis), gallstones (cholecystolithiasis) or pancreatitis (pancreatitis) can cause pain in the stomach or upper abdomen. In addition, the serious pregnancy disease HELLP must always be considered: HELLP syndrome is characterized by hemolysis, elevated liver function and low platelet counts and is often accompanied by severe upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. A physician should be consulted immediately in this case.Recommendation of the editors: HELLP-Syndrome
Serious pregnancy-related stomach pain
Apart from these banal causes, which should not worry a pregnant woman, there are also conditions with pain in the stomach that are not harmless during pregnancy
- On the one hand, this can lead to an inflammation of the uterus, which can even rise up to the ovaries. This causes severe pain, which is often misinterpreted by those affected as stomach pain.
- In addition, ectopic pregnancies can also exist, which can lead to similar symptoms. For this reason, abdominal pain during a pregnancy that persists for a longer period of time should always be assessed by a doctor.
Pregnancy-independent stomach pain
Of course one should never forget that stomach pain during pregnancy can also have reasons that have nothing to do with the current condition of the woman: In this case, the therapy depends on the severity and cause of the pain.
- Common triggers for stomach pain such as appendicitis, gastritis or food poisoning can occur in pregnant women as well as in non-pregnant women and must be excluded.
