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Midwife clinic with PB's Nikki Khan. Mon 11 July, from 12-1pm
Prima Baby's resident midwife, Nikki Khan will be hosting a webchat here on Monday 11th July between 12-1pm.
An expert midwife for the past decade, Nikki will advise on all areas of pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn babies.
For more information about Nikki Khan cut and paste the following link into your browser bar: http://tinyurl.com/3gnfmx2
Don't worry if you can't make the time and date, post your question now and Nikki will answer as many queries on the day as possible.
An expert midwife for the past decade, Nikki will advise on all areas of pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn babies.
For more information about Nikki Khan cut and paste the following link into your browser bar: http://tinyurl.com/3gnfmx2
Don't worry if you can't make the time and date, post your question now and Nikki will answer as many queries on the day as possible.
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Replies
I had a missed miscarriage in March at 10 weeks (baby had stopped developing at 5 weeks). Im pregnant again now, 9 weeks and 4 days and we had our first scan the other day at 9weeks 1 day. Baby was measuring the correct size and had a perfect heartbeat. I was just wondering if, now that I've had that scan and all was well, it is unlikely for me to miscarry again now?
I really want to get excited and tell people but Im still very afraid that its gong to happen again.
Thanks!
Sarah
Prima Baby's midwife, Nikki Khan will be online in 15 minutes to answer your questions.
Nikki will endeavour to answer as many questions as she can in the hour, so post yours now...
My name is Nikki Khan and I am Prima Baby's Expert Midwife and am here to answer any questions you may have on pregnancy and birth, newborns and maternity rights.
I am waiting for your questions and keen to put your minds at ease!
Nikki
The fact that you are considering getting pregnant again is a step in the right direction! The most important thing to remember is every birth is different, however once you have had an episiotomy recent studies have shown there is an increased risk of tearing in your next birth as there is a weakness in that area of your perineum. There are some methods you can use to help prevent tearing second time around such as daily perineal massage from about 33 weeks pregnant which can help to increase the elasticity of your perineal muscles using simple Vitamin E oil or pure vegetable oil. It is unlikely that you would have an elective episiotomy second time around and if you tear, this would often heal quicker with less discomfort in the postnatal period so it should not be a repeat of your previous experience. The fact that you had a forceps delivery first time around may have been because your baby was in distress & needed to be delivered quickly. This is not necessarily going to be the case second time!
Good luck!!
Nikki
Im currently 28+ weeks pregnant with no.3 and last night i was getting lots of braxton hicks. They seem to start around tea time and constant and when i went to bed they were very frequent. I timed them for about 30-45 mins and they were coming every 3 mins! I started to worry but thankfully they died off and i fell asleep.
Should i worry if they are so regular?
thanks
I can understand your concerns and firstly please be reassured that most women who have a first miscarriage do go on to have a perfectly healthy pregnancy and birth the second time around. Early miscarriages often occur because something went wrong in early pregnancy with the way your baby was developing and will not necessarily happen second time around. However, I would advise you that as you had an early miscarriage, during the first trimester, you may prefer to wait until after 12 weeks gestation before letting family and friends know. After 12 weeks gestation, the chances of miscarriage are reduced to around 1:100.
Take things easy and try to relax in the early stages of pregnancy if at all possible!
Nikki
Just a quick one really. Do you have any remedies for cramps? I am 26 wks and waking most nights with terrible cramps in both calves, and sometimes feet. Is this common and do you know why it happens?
thanks in advance
Thank you
1st time mum so little scared
I'm only 6+4 with my second pregnancy (first was very straight forward), I've been having brown spotting for the last week, was scanned at my local epau on Wednesday (5+6 but could easily be backdated a few days) there was an intact gestation sac, yolk sac present, no foetal pole visible yet and no evidence of any cause for the spotting. Friday and over the weekend I kept bleeding red blood when I opened my bowels that would quickly stop. During last night the red blood got much heavier- almost period like with lots of little clots but no pain or cramps just mild aching, I've spoken to my epau this morning but they're fully booked and can't see me until tomorrow. The bleeding has eased off again, except when I wipe...this morning I was sure it was all over for us but now I'm not so sure. Could anything else be causing this?
Thanks
Most women have Braxton Hicks contraction in their pregnancy but many women who have had babies before often complain about them more frequently. It is often known as -false labour' but unlike true labour, these Braxton Hicks contractions do not become longer, stronger, and closer together and that is how you can differentiate them from true labour. Other trigger factors which can make the Braxton Hicks contractions worse are an upset stomach which can irritate the uterus or if you are overdoing it, so slow down!
As you are only 28 weeks pregnant and if you find these Braxton Hicks contractions are becoming increasingly painful and regular & not subsiding and you are having more than 4 in an hour again, you should contact your midwife and get checked out at the labour ward, especially since this is your third pregnancy and things can happen quicker second and third time
Good luck.
Nikki
i am 24 weeks pregnant with an ivf baby and have suffered with period type cramps on and off from day 1 of this pregnancy.i have noticed lately i only get them after a bowel movement and they dont come and go, they are constant when i get them and can last for the rest of the day. my consultant doesnt seem to have an answer, any thoughts?Can the cramps be bowel related even though they feel like period pains?
thank you
You poor thing! One of the joys of pregnancy! They tend to occur more in second and third trimester and are thought to be due to a deficiency of certain nutrients such as calcium or magnesium which is caused by your baby taking what she needs and depleting your stores! Having a banana before you go to bed and a glass of milk can help alleviate some of the discomfort as the banana contains potassium and the milk contains calcium. This deficiency in combination with the increasing weight of your growing uterus and the pregnancy hormone progesterone can cause these painful leg cramps during the night. Some other tips to help alleviate the discomfort are doing calf stretches by straightening your leg & gently pulling your ankles and toes towards you (or getting your partner to help) when the cramps occur & it should gradually subside. Also avoid crossing your legs during the day or standing for too long.
Hope these tips help!
Nikki
I can understand how anxious you must be and hope I can reassure you in some way. Normally the fetal heartbeat can be seen at 6 weeks gestation on ultrasound scan. Prior to this only the fetal pole is evident on scans.
So I have everything crossed for you for your next scan this week...
Good luck!
Nikki
I'm 10 + 5 and had my dating scan last week and all is fine. But two weeks ago I had a bleed which promoted a EP scan, but everything was fine that time too.
I'm still having a bleed every couple of days and both my hospital and the EPU unit say it's nothing to worry about, but I am still worried. Have had another one over the weekend and don't know whether I should do anything about it? The blood is bright red, no clots, not really heavy and no pain.
Thanks,
Cas
Just a quick question.
I am 36+4 weeks pregnanat and for over a week now I have been having painful contractions every 5 minutes. I had to go to hospital a week a go and they said that they were definate contractions but were not strong enough to have a quick effect and told me to go home and wait. I saw the consultant on Friday and he also agreed and siad to go home and wait until they became unbearable. I am still at home having the same contractions every 5 mintues and am on co-codamol for the pain. I also have SPD and other things. Have you got any tips to help get them to be more effective?
Forgot to say that this is my 3rd baby
Nikki has kindly agreed to stay online to finish answering the questions that were posted before 1pm, but unfortunately any questions posted after this time will not be answered.
You can contact Nikki Khan via her own website http://www.nikkikhan.co.uk/ or speak to her personally on the telephone through our Greatvine advice service on 0906 194 9902 (??1.50/min).
For more information about Greatvine and to see other experts from an array of baby and toddler genres, available through our service, use this link: http://www.babyexpert.com/toddler/tantrums/help-is-just-a-phone-call-away
Bleeding in the first trimester is an obvious concern with about ???? of pregnant mums experiencing some bleeding in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. There are various reasons for this which include light bleeding at the time when your period would have normally been which can occur a couple of times until the pregnancy hormones start to settle down. There is also something called an implantation bleed that occurs when the fertilised egg implants in your womb & another cause can be from cervical erosion or polyp which can cause bleeding following intercourse. When bleeding includes period-like pains and heavy bleeding, including clots, it is known as a threatened miscarriage but women do not always go on to miscarry. So please do not feel disheartened, however the EPAU scan will be conclusive so you will not know for certain until you have the second scan and hopefully see your little one's heartbeat.
Nikki
I must admit I agree with your midwife as an anterior placenta means the placenta is positioned on the front wall of your uterus and a posterior placenta is positioned on the back wall of your uterus. The placental position can change from low lying (near the cervical os) to moving away from the os as the uterus grows , however as the place the placenta develops is wherever the fertilised egg embeds in the uterus it is unlikely to change from the front to the back of your uterus. I am unsure as to whether it may be different if you have a retroverted uterus when the uterus tilts backwards which then starts to tilt forward after 12 weeks changing the view of where the placenta is lying! However, you will need to discuss this with your obstetrician or the ultrasonographer at the next scan. Either position does not cause any harm to your growing baby however so please be reassured about that!
Dizziness and headaches can be due to low blood pressure especially in the first trimester, or even low blood sugars, so eat little and often and avoid getting up too quickly from a seated position. This is a very common symptom for many mums in the first trimester. The headaches can also be due to dehydration so increase your fluids and above all listen to your body and if you need to rest and lie down for a while do so!
Pins and needles in the hands can be an early sign of carpal tunnel syndrome in pregnancy so if it persists you should contact your midwife for advice.
Nikki
Firstly, congratulations on this precious pregnancy... Secondly I can understand your concerns but the fact that the abdominal cramps are not coming and going and mostly associated with a bowel motion indicates that they are unlikely to be labour pains. As to whether they are connected with your bowel may be dependent on other symptoms such as whether you are constipated or have a changing bowel habit with diarrhoea like symptoms. Constipation is often caused by the pressure of your growing bump on your rectum, and the pregnancy hormones which slow down digestion causing a sensation of uncomfortable bloating and wind.
Many women do have abdominal discomfort throughout their pregnancy, but if this abdominal pain is associated with vaginal bleeding, reduced fetal movements or the pains remain constant or become more like regular labour pains you should always seek immediate medical advice for reassurance
Good luck with the rest of the pregnancy!
Nikki