Superdrug Health

• The First Trimester
• The Second Trimester
• The Third Trimester
• Miscarriage

During the first trimester your body is adjusting to pregnancy. Pregnancy hormones will start to make your breasts larger. Your nipples may become darker in colour. You may feel incredibly tired and may be experiencing sickness, especially in the morning and you may start to have food cravings. The womb will begin to enlarge but you probably won’t ‘show’ until the end of this trimester, especially if it is your first baby.

 

You may start to experience heartburn during the second trimester of your pregnancy. This can be very uncomfortable but your doctor or pharmacist will be able to advise you about simple remedies to help with this. You will now start to...

 

Towards the end of pregnancy, some women find that they have problems sleeping. You might also feel short of breath as the baby presses down on the diaphragm, the muscle sheet used in breathing. You will be carrying a lot of extra weight in the third trimester, so you will undoubtedly be feeling tired.

 

A miscarriage, or spontaneous abortion, is a very common complication of pregnancy, most likely to occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Women who miscarry often feel they have done something wrong but it is much more common than most people realise – about 15 per cent of confirmed pregnancies end in miscarriage or spontaneous loss of pregnancy. And many more pregnancies end earlier than this, before the woman even knows she is pregnant.

In most cases, Why a miscarriage happens is not fully understood, butit might help if you discuss your fears with your doctor. It is worth remembering that the majority of women who miscarry do go on to havea successful pregnancy next time.

Investigations into the possible causes of a miscarriage are not normally carried out unless the woman has had three or more miscarriages.