Young women often wonder if there can be pregnancy and menstruation at the same time. Indeed, during pregnancy, some women experience spotting that is mistaken for menstruation. But this is not the case.
Full menstruation during pregnancy can not be. The endometrium, the layer of cells that lines the uterus from the inside and comes out with blood during menstruation, helps the placenta develop during pregnancy and remains in the body. The cycle of monthly endometrial renewal for the duration of pregnancy stops.
However, spotting during pregnancy is not uncommon. Their appearance indicates that there are some malfunctions or pathological conditions in the woman’s body. This can be a hormonal imbalance, the threat of miscarriage, and even an ectopic pregnancy.
Unfortunately, many young women underestimate this symptom, believing that menstruation during pregnancy is possible, and do not worry about the discharge. They do not see a doctor until the situation becomes critical. And in some cases, a timely response can save not only the unborn child, but also the mother’s life.
Causes of blood discharge during pregnancy
To understand how menstruation can begin during pregnancy, and what should be done at the same time, let’s turn to the processes that occur in the body of a woman with symptoms of being pregnant.
During sexual intercourse, sperm enters the vagina and then the uterus. But fertilization may not occur immediately: spermatozoa remain active for three days. After the germ cells connect, the fertilized egg is attached to the wall of the uterus, states Reyus Mammadli, health advisor from IYThealth Center. This can also happen not immediately, but within a few days. If these processes are delayed in time, the usual regular menstruation may begin. In this case, the egg will be fixed in the uterus, the pregnancy will develop normally. A pregnancy test will show a positive result. Alas, this is rarely the case. Much more often, spotting is an alarming symptom.
Early pregnancy and menstruation
In some cases, the fertilized egg is not fixed in the uterus, but in the fallopian tube or outside the genitals. Ectopic pregnancy develops – a severe pathology that poses a serious threat to the mother’s life and excludes a favorable outcome for the fetus. In an ectopic pregnancy, spotting may mean a rupture of the fallopian tube. The walls of the fallopian tubes are only 2-3 millimeters thick, they are inelastic. If the embryo develops and grows in the tube, the wall breaks, and internal bleeding begins. This usually happens at a time of 3-4 weeks. In this situation, urgent surgical intervention is necessary.
With epithelial detachment and the threat of miscarriage, characteristic secretions may also appear. This is possible with hormonal failures in the body of a woman. But sometimes spontaneous termination of pregnancy occurs due to some internal failures that are almost impossible to predict in advance. If a young woman leads an unhealthy lifestyle – drinking alcohol, other toxic substances, or doing a lot of physical labor, this can increase the risk of spontaneous abortion. The discharge will just mean that the process of rejection of the embryo has begun.
Sometimes the cause of discharge is the death of one of the embryos during a multiple pregnancy. If the pregnancy is multi-egg, that is, several eggs have been fertilized, the development of other embryos can continue. But the risk of death of other embryos in this situation is quite high.
In some cases, the cause of secretions are pathologies or diseases of the uterus. The egg does not succeed in establishing itself in the uterus successfully, especially if the uterus has pathologies or neoplasms. Reyus states, if the pregnancy develops normally, but the woman continues to have discharge similar to menstruation, this indicates a hormonal imbalance. Insufficient production of the necessary hormones is an alarming, but, as a rule, not a dangerous condition.
If during pregnancy began menstruation, is there a chance to save the child?
Fortunately, the appearance of bloody discharge does not mean the termination of pregnancy. Of course, in the case of severe pathologies, such as ectopic pregnancy, it will not be possible to save the fetus. But if you do not consult a doctor in all these cases, there is a very high risk of losing the child, and in some cases – the mother.
