What Causes Spotting During Pregnancy?

Posted on Fri, 7 Mar 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 7 Mar 2014 Answered on

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : i will be six weeks pregnant on Monday. I have not had any spotting until today. I went for a walk and when I came back and went to the bathroom I had a small amount of blood on the toilet paper. it was bright red. I don't have any pain in my abdomen or back. I checked about and hour later and there was a very small amount of blood on the toilet paper when I wiped. should be concerned?

Answered by Dr. Cori Baill (27 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Not all bleeding is bad. Detailed Answer: It is not unusual to have a small amount of bleeding early in pregnancy as the placenta is developing and growing. I would encourage you to have an ultrasound to make sure that everything is developing normally. Ar six weeks you may be able to see the baby's heartbeat on ultrasound. if a normal heartbeat is present then your risk of miscarriage jobs from over 30% at conception to less than 5%. Even, if sadly, the bleeding does represent that the pregnancy is not viable it does not mean that you will have any difficulty conceiving or carrying a pregnancy to term in the future. The odds are with you that everything is okay in this pregnancy. An ultrasound is the best way to confirm this. I hope this explanation helps and does not worry you unnecessarily. Thank you for turning to us with your concern.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D

Follow up: Dr. Cori Baill (12 minutes later)

So, I shouldn't be worried that the blood was bright red? Everything I saw online said that bright red blood is more worrisome than dark blood. I'm just worried. Should I go to the emergency room since it's after my doctor's hours and it's the weekend or is that not necessary.

Answered by Dr. Cori Baill (26 minutes later)

Brief Answer: You do not need to go to the ER for spotting. Detailed Answer: Bright red bleeding only means that the bleeding is a recent occurrence. When it takes a while for blood to appear, for instance if you were laying down all night and didn't see the blood until the morning when you stood up, then it would be oxidized and look brown (rusty). There is no need to go to the emergency room. This will keep until Monday. Stay well hydrated. You can go about your usual activity but don't exert yourself. Most of the time a few drops of blood in the beginning of pregnancy has to do with the placenta forming and is a normal physiological part of development. However even if it's a remote possibility that this is not a normal pregnancy or not a pregnancy that is going to continue, if it is the start of the miscarriage, there is little you or anyone can do to change things. Either way the emergency room is always there if you were to develop heavy bleeding or severe pain requiring medication. BRW lots of people will tell you to put your feet up or to maintain bed rest. The many scientific studies it that have been done to see if this is beneficial has failed to show that it makes any difference in the in evitable outcome. Either things are going to be just fine or they aren't whether or not you suspend all your activity. And more than likely everything is going to be okay. I certainly hope so.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D

Follow up: Dr. Cori Baill (16 minutes later)

Thank you. I feel somewhat better.

Answered by Dr. Cori Baill (12 hours later)

Brief Answer: Please let me know what the US shows next week. Detailed Answer: I'll keep my phone w/me over the weekend. write again if I can help.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad