When you do not wait
You are allowed to be the annoying one who calls. That is the job on a bad afternoon.
healthdirect splits pregnancy into changes that are common and signs that can mean trouble. You will not diagnose which is which from the couch. The rule they give is simple. If something feels wrong with her or the baby, get it checked, even if you are not sure.
Some calls are straight away, to the doctor, midwife or hospital. The baby moving less than usual. An injury to her abdomen.
Severe abdominal pain. Bleeding from the vagina. Blurred vision, sudden swelling, or a bad headache that does not go away with simple pain medicine.
Learn that list before you need it. Put the maternity number in your phone under a boring name you can find with one thumb.
At any point in the pregnancy, the same immediate list includes severe nausea or vomiting, vaginal bleeding, severe belly pain, clear fluid leaking, fever or chills, shortness of breath or a racing heartbeat, and pain or swelling in one leg. A hit to the stomach counts even when it was a fall or a car park bump.
It also counts when the hit was family violence. Do not soften that into a private matter until morning. Call.
Early pregnancy, before 20 weeks, has its own immediate signs. Severe pain or cramping low in the belly, or pain at the tip of one shoulder, especially with bleeding. Dizziness.
Fainting. Shoulder pain is easy to dismiss as a pulled muscle. Do not.
After 20 weeks, call immediately for vision changes such as flashing lights or blurry sight, sudden severe swelling in hands, feet or face, a headache that simple pain relief does not fix, pain under the ribs, extreme itch especially on hands and feet, and leg swelling that does not settle overnight. If the baby has stopped moving, or is moving less, go to the hospital. Not the group chat. The hospital.
There is a slower list that is still not optional. Emotional problems lasting more than two weeks, feeling depressed or anxious, or not managing ordinary tasks. Unusual vaginal discharge.
Weight loss. Wee that is urgent, painful or burning. Leg swelling that is still there in the morning.
See the doctor or midwife as soon as you can.
When you get there, they will ask, examine, and may test. Your notes help. When it started.
How much blood, if any. Whether the baby has moved. What she has taken.
You can write that in the car.
healthdirect is 1800 022 222 if you need a nurse or doctor to help you sort the next step. If she needs urgent help, or you think it is an emergency, call 000. Do not drive heroically past the point where an ambulance is the right vehicle.
Going to the antenatal appointments and keeping the ordinary health habits lower the chance of complications. They do not replace this list. The list is for the day the ordinary plan is not enough.
If you are the one who was told not to overreact, overreact anyway when the list matches. You can apologise to a midwife. You cannot apologise to a clock.
Source: healthdirect