🚨 7 warning signs to contact maternity care urgently

7 signs to keep on your radar

• Labour concerns: painful regular contractions, symptoms before 37 weeks, or severe persistent abdominal pain.
• Possible waters breaking: a gush or ongoing trickle, especially green, brown, bloody or foul-smelling fluid.
• Vaginal bleeding: seek advice about any new bleeding; heavy bleeding, faintness or severe pain is an emergency.
• Reduced or changed baby movements compared with the baby's usual pattern.
• A fall, road crash or direct blow to the abdomen, even if there is no visible injury.
• Fever, chills, painful urination or feeling significantly unwell.
• Severe headache, blurred vision, pain high in the abdomen or sudden swelling of the face or hands.

What should you do?

1. 1. Make contact now

   Call the maternity unit and explain the symptom, pregnancy stage and location. If you cannot reach them, seek urgent assessment at an appropriate hospital.

2. 2. Escalate severe symptoms

   Call 911 for heavy bleeding, collapse, seizure, severe breathing difficulty or imminent birth. Do not have your partner drive herself.

3. 3. Describe what has changed

   Note fluid colour, bleeding, pain and movement changes. Do not delay reduced-movement assessment to try food, cold drinks or a home heartbeat device.

4. 4. Follow the travel and review plan

   Bring records if readily available and arrange safe transport. Separately, keep monitoring or induction appointments on the schedule your maternity team gives—not a universal number of days after the due date.

Classic mistakes

• ❌ Waiting overnight for movements to improve A clear reduction or change needs prompt maternity assessment, even if a previous check was reassuring.
• ❌ Waiting for a textbook pattern Do not wait for contractions to reach a set interval or dismiss spotting without advice. Symptoms and individual pregnancy risks determine the next step.

Same topic

• 🚑 Maternity ER: when and how to get there?
• ❓ What happens after a trip to maternity triage?
• ⏳ Understanding labour stages and cervical dilation
• 💉 The epidural: how it works and why it helps