Pregnant women are often encouraged to engage in moderate exercise to maintain strength, flexibility and fitness, as well as to avoid gaining unnecessary weight. However, sometimes vaginal bleeding occurs after exercise. Any bleeding during pregnancy can alarm a woman and worry her for her health and that of her baby. Women who experience this symptom should immediately contact their physician, as sometimes this symptom indicates a medical emergency.
Features
Bleeding after exercise can occur during any trimester of pregnancy, explains the American Pregnancy website. After exercising, women might notice a small amount of spotting when using the restroom or changing their workout clothes. The blood might be dark reddish brown or bright red, and in amounts from a drop or two to enough to saturate a feminine pad. The woman might not notice as she bleeds, or she might feel a gush of fluid as she stands or moves, and the bleeding might worsen with increased activity such as running.
Warning
Women who experience any sort of bleeding during pregnancy should immediately contact their physician. In some cases, bleeding after exercise during pregnancy could indicate an emergency situation such as miscarriage, premature labor or placental abruption.
Identification
Obstetricians might ask pregnant women who are experiencing bleeding after exercise several questions over the phone to determine a course of action. The woman might need to monitor how quickly she soaks a sanitary pad or measure the size of any clots that are passed. The doctor might ask the woman to head to the hospital for fetal monitoring and an internal examination to check the source of bleeding.
Causes
During early pregnancy, bleeding after exercise might result from implantation of the embryo into the uterus or as a result of changing hormone levels. Women experiencing a miscarriage might start to bleed during or after exercise, and they often experience painful cramping along with bright red bleeding. Bleeding after exercise might also occur if the woman had a pelvic exam or sexual intercourse. During mid- and late-pregnancy, placental abruption and placenta previa might cause women to bleed after exercising. Pregnant women with hemorrhoids might experience bleeding after exercise, especially if their workout clothes irritated the anal area.
Treatments
Doctors often advise pregnant women who experience bleeding after exercising to rest and monitor the amount of bleeding. Light bleeding from irritation to the vagina rarely requires a specific treatment, although doctors might recommend avoiding intercourse and resting while laying down. Pregnant women can treat bleeding after exercise resulting from hemorrhoids with ointments made for this purpose, and using a doughnut-shaped pillow for sitting on. Obstetricians must perform emergency treatment on pregnant women with placental abruption, as the mother's and baby's lives are at risk when this condition develops.
