Women’s Health

Morning sickness is probably the most famous symptom of pregnancy. It’s a persistent nausea and vomiting that many women experience during pregnancy. Despite its name, morning sickness is experienced at any time of day, but it typically doesn’t persist past the first trimester. Although, some women may experience it through their whole pregnancy.

Edema is the medical term for swelling caused by fluid collecting in your body’s tissues. Women commonly experience edema in their feet and ankles during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. During pregnancy your bodies water content will increase by 6.5 litres. This water is vital to the growing fetus, placenta, amniotic fluid, and maternal blood volume. As your uterus expands, it puts pressure on the pelvic veins and your vena cava, which means blood can’t move as freely from your lower limbs back up to your heart. This results in swelling.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health conditions, affecting one in five adults. As pregnancy represents both a major commitment and change in your life, it is understandable to experience some anxiety. It’s common to experience anxiety during pregnancy, but for many women, they may only experience it starting in the hours after giving birth, when they stop breast feeding, or once menses resume.

Dizziness is a symptom that can occur at any stage of pregnancy. While it can be caused by relatively harmless conditions, it may also be a symptom of more serious conditions. It’s important that you report any dizziness with your doctor. The simpler causes of dizziness are changes in hormones and blood pressure, dehydration, or anemia. More severe causes include hyperemesis gravidarum resulting from morning sickness, pressure on your uterus, or gestational diabetes.

Urinary or bladder retention is the inability to fully empty your bladder. It can be either acute or chronic. Acute urinary retention can come on suddenly and requires immediate medical attention. Chronic urinary retention, on the other hand, will happen more slowly. Your urine stream will be weaker than normal, coming in fits and starts, and you may still feel the need to pee after you finish. This condition results from interference in the signals between brain and bladder, weakened muscles, or any kind of blockage.

Both constipation and hemorrhoids are common during the later stages of pregnancy. This is because as your uterus grows in size, it puts more and more pressure on your lower digestive tract. As a result, bowel movements become more difficult, leaving you feeling constipated. There is also increased blood flow to the pelvis, which increases the likelihood of hemorrhoids.

It’s normal to feel  strong emotions after birth. For some women, this takes the form of postpartum depression. This is a form of depression that develops in the first weeks after giving birth but can start earlier than that. Symptoms will mirror those of clinical depression, while also including difficulty bonding with your baby, fear of not being a good mother, or intrusive thoughts relating to harming yourself or your baby. Postpartum depression is a serious condition that can interfere with your ability to care for your baby or perform daily activities. If you are experiencing postpartum depression, it is important that you seek care.

Abdominal pain, sometimes referred to as afterpains, is often attributed to the uterus returning to its normal size. This can feel similar to menstrual cramps as the organ contracts. It can take up to six weeks for your uterus to return to its normal size. Another common cause of postpartum abdominal pain is constipation that results from hormonal changes, stress, reduced physical activity after delivery, or a bruised perineum from labour. Lastly, women who have c-section deliveries may experience pain and cramping around the incision site as they heal.

Lochia is vaginal discharge experienced after birth, which consists of blood, mucus, uterine tissue, and other materials from your uterus. Persistent lochia, or postpartum bleeding, is a normal process of clearing out the afterbirth from your uterus as it returns to its normal size. It can last a few weeks, moving through three distinct stages as lochia is discharged. If you experience sudden or prolonged heavy bleeding that lasts more than three-to-four days after giving birth, this may be postpartum hemorrhaging and you should seek immediate medical attention.

Lochiostasis, or lochia retention, is a condition where the lochia is not discharged vaginally as expected. This can lead to lochiometra, a condition where the uterus becomes distended and pushed out of shape.

It’s often taken for granted that mothers will produce more than enough breast milk for their baby, but that’s not always the case. Low milk supply can be the result of complications during delivery, postpartum hemorrhaging, thyroid conditions, PCOS, diabetes, or past breast surgery. Lifestyle factors like weight, smoking, or alcohol consumption have also been known to contribute to low breast milk production.

Pain with urination is not uncommon during the first six weeks after giving birth, particularly among women who’ve had vaginal births. There are a number of causes from swelling or tearing in the vaginal region, tears near or in the opening of your urethra, trauma to the urethra from a Foley catheter, to urinary tract infections.

Dysmenorrhea is a condition where women experience severe and frequent cramps during their period. It’s caused by abnormal contractions of the uterus (typically when contractions are less than ten minutes apart), which occurs either due to a chemical imbalance in the body or because of a secondary medical condition like endometriosis or uterine fibroids.

Amenorrhea is characterized as not receiving your first period by age 15 or missing three or more periods once you’ve begun menstruating. It can be caused by a variety of things from lifestyle factors such as low body weight, excessive exercise, or stress, to hormone imbalances caused by PCOS, thyroid malfunction, or premature menopause. Women who have given birth will typically experience amenorrhea for the duration they are breastfeeding.

Menorrhagia is excessive or prolonged bleeding during menstruation. Women who experience menorrhagia will commonly go through sanitary products quickly, often needing to double up, and will bleed for longer than a week. Other symptoms include anemia, tiredness, fatigue, and the inability to complete certain daily activities because of heavy bleeding.

A period is considered irregular if the time between each period is not consistent, you lose more or less blood than usual, or the number of days your period lasts varies a lot. The most common cause is changes in your hormone levels. This can occur when you get a hormonal intrauterine device, start or change birth control medication, exercise too much, develop PCOS, or have recently been pregnant.

Mood swings occur before and during menstruation as a result in the dip in oestrogen levels. This dip can cause levels of serotonin in your brain to drop, which will result in more depressed moods.