Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

Having low platelets during pregnancy is the second most common blood disorder. Just as the name suggests, it means that the platelet levels of the blood are lower than they should be. The platelets make the blood clot. If the condition is very severe, you could have problems with bleeding during delivery. According to official information, it is normal to have a drop of the platelets level during pregnancy of 10%. This is caused by psychological factors. Some other reasons include gestational thrombocytopenia. This usually appears during the second or third trimester. Since it has no symptoms, it doesn’t really bother the mother.

What does it mean?

Nonetheless when it comes to low platelets while being pregnant, there are some more serious causes, like immune thrombocytopenic purpura. This is an autoimmune problem that leads to the destruction of the platelets. This affects about 5% of all pregnant women. This problem could increase the risks of hemorrhaging. If the problem gets serious, it could also lead to thrombocytopenia in case of the baby, too. The only way to diagnose the problem is to have a blood count. Normally the count should be of between 150,000 and 450,000 per microliter. If the levels drop below 150,000, you are said to have low platelet levels.

Things to consider

If you would like to know about the symptoms of the problem, you should know that in the majority of the cases these are nonexistent. However these could appear if the levels fall below 50,000. If you are affected by pregnancy low platelets you could observe some small spots on the skin. In case the levels drop very low, it is possible to be affected by bleeding into the intestine or the brain that could turn out to be fatal. Now you know more about the problem and you know why a blood count is important.