Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

Is spotting a sign of pregnancy? You may know that it could be, but this symptom shouldn’t be used to determine whether you are pregnant or not.

If you are really pregnant, there are many different things that could lead to spotting.

Menstrual spotting

It is possible to experience some spotting before the start of your period or after the end of it. Even more, it is quite common to see some spotting once your period is over for a few days.

The cause of this is the change that goes on in the hormone levels.

Besides this cause the spotting could also be a sign of ovulation that happens halfway through your cycle.

Birth control spotting

It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have spotting during pregnancy if you experience it when changing to a different kind of contraceptive or you stop using the one that you are used to.

Again, this is the fault of the hormones and the spotting could last for a longer period of time.

Implantation bleeding

In case you would like to get pregnant, implantation spotting is good news for you. This could be a sign of pregnancy. Such spotting occurs 6-12 days after fertilization takes place.

In the majority of the cases it lasts for 2-3 days. Since it could be accompanied by some abdominal cramping, women often think that their period is near.

Miscarriage

This comes with a kind of abnormal spotting while being pregnant. Having a miscarriage is most probable during the first trimester.

In this case also you could have some cramping in the lower abdomen and you could be passing tissue through the vagina.

If you have some bleeding that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a miscarriage, since about half of all pregnant women experience some bleeding.