Health

Signs Of Pregnancy(Updated 2023)

Hey everyone, welcome to Medical Advice Channel in this article, I will be taking you through the signs of pregnancy that you need to know in 2023. I know these will help you in your maternity exams and daily practice as a physician or a nurse.

Signs of pregnancy

Am also testing out a new approach to my articles and tutorials, where I leave some questions to test you on what you have just learnt. Be sure to try it out at the end of the article.

For your exams, you need to know that signs of pregnancy are categorized into 3. These categories include;

  • Presumptive signs of pregnancy.
  • Probable signs of pregnancy.
  • Positive signs of pregnancy.

Knowing each of these categories and how they are present is very important for your exam because you might get a scenario that will have the signs and symptoms of pregnancy, and you’ll have to identify whether the signs are presumptive or probable.

Presumptive signs of pregnancy.

In English, the word presumptive means unconfirmed, or speculation. You will get these signs from your history of the lady, meaning she is the only one who experiences them.

Now getting these signs does not necessarily mean she is pregnant, but raises our suspicion and will make us do further investigations to rule out pregnancy and other diseases we might suspect they don’t necessarily mean that a baby is growing in the uterus that can be attributed to other things.

For example, you can note these signs when you are just about to get your period. these are known as PMS symptoms.

Presumptive signs of pregnancy

Presumptive signs of pregnancy include;

  • Amenorrhea – means the absence of periods.
  • Lady complaining of tiredness or fatigue.
  • She will also state that her breasts are enlarged.
  • The enlarged breast will also be sore.
  • Increase the frequency of urination.
  • Some, especially around 16 – 20 weeks of pregnancy might have a feeling of the baby moving in their tummy., known as quickening.
  • Nausea and vomiting.

Also, read;

Probable Signs Of Pregnancy.

Now the word probably means it’s likely she probably is pregnant, and our index of suspicion just went a little bit higher. Probable signs, the doctor, the nurse, or whoever’s examining, the woman will be able to observe and document these signs.

Now one thing that’s going to help you remember this category is all those fancy sign terms that you have to know for your exams such as gadelle sign, Chadwick sign, and Hagar sign. So if you see one of those signs, it’s pointing to the probable category for the signs of pregnancy. These signs include;

  • A pregnancy test will be performed and will have a positive pregnancy test result.
  • When the uterus is pushed with the fingers, the fetus will move to the side it is being pushed to, and then return to the previous position.. This is known as Blockman Sign.
  • The physician will feel the outline of the fetus when palpating the abdomen. Note that this does not necessarily mean there is a growing fetus, it could be something else.
  • Braxton Hicks contractions. These are irregular, not very painful contractions that don’t result in that cervix being dilated, they just really practice contractions.
  • Goodell’s sign. Happens around the 6 – 8th week of gestation, when there is softening of the cervix.
  • Bluish colour of the vulva vagina and cervix. It is known as Chadwick’s sign.
  • Hagar sign. There is a lower uterine segment softening.
  • Enlarged uterus.

Positive Signs of pregnancy.

Just as the word indicates, these signs are conclusive, absolute or definitive. We have a foetus growing in the uterus. Knowing these signs is easy because the fetus itself will be providing us with evidence of its existence. Positive signs of pregnancy include;

  • A fetal movement will be felt by the physician. Electronic devices can also be used to elicit Fetal Heart Tones.
  • Delivery of the baby.
  • Ultrasound can be used to detect the baby.
  • The physician can also see the visible movement of the fetus. This is when the baby is kicking and moving about in the uterus.

Visible fetal movement.

That wraps up my article on signs of pregnancy, feel free to access my free quiz to see how much you have grasped on this topic.

Also read: 7 steps on how to take a pregnancy test

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