Pregnancy problems can be addressed to pregnancy related disturbances that are commonly experienced by a pregnant woman. These conditions are usually not serious and tend to fade away without any special cure. These normal disturbances can appear during pregnancy or within several weeks or even days after giving birth. In some cases more severe disturbances could occur which need to be handled by a doctor.

Here are the most common pregnancy related problems that you might anticipate during your pregnancy:

Iron deficiency anemia. This is the lack of iron (Fe) in your blood cells. This can occur due to the growing baby that needs nutrition and vitamins which include iron. Your hemoglobin level will decrease below normal. You may feel extremely tired, dizzy and weak and you look pale. Your doctor will look into this and provide you with some advice to improve your diet plus some additional vitamins and minerals, iron in particular.

Nausea and sickness. This has something to do with hormonal changes in your body due to pregnancy. This is also very common in pregnancy. You can try to treat this problem by getting a lot of rest, just eat little but frequent and avoid taste and smell that might provoke you to get nausea and sick. Try to drink a cup of ginger tea or take some ginger biscuits which may help. Please see your doctor if the condition is getting worse and no food or fluid can go down.

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). UTI, which is also called bladder infection, is a bacterial infection which affects the lower part of the urinary tract or the urinary bladder. This can happen from the 6th to the 24th week of pregnancy. It is considered as the most common health problem found during the gestation period. This condition needs prompt treatment, since it may lead to premature labor if left untreated. It can be symptomless, which makes it very important for the doctor or midwife to ask you for a urine check.

The common symptoms are feeling of discomfort or burning pain when urinating, pain, pressure or tenderness in the area of the urine bladder and feeling the urge to urinate more often, until waking up from sleep to urinate

Urinary incontinence. This is the leaking of urine which is a very common problem during pregnancy. The leaking may be triggered by sneezing, coughing, laughing, jumping or run. This is caused by the increasing pressure of the uterus on your urine bladder which gives lesser room to store your urine and the relaxing effect of the urethral muscle which you can not control.

However this will be temporary. You need to do some exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles which include the urethral muscles.

The important thing is to make sure that the fluid is urine. Smell it and if it smells ammonia it is urine. This is to differentiate the leaking fluid with the leak of amniotic fluid which is a very serious problem and need immediate help of an attending physician.

Hemorrhoids (Piles). This is problem is located around your anal area. It is the form of a varicose vein located at your anal canal (the passage feces). The veins under your uterus tend to get swollen and stretched due to the mounting pressure from the growing baby. This is aggravated by the increase of progesterone hormone that has a vaso-dilating effect or the relaxing of blood vessels. This is a very painful condition.

Women with lesser intake of fibers are more prone to this condition hence the proper treatment is the consumption of high fiber food like wheat bread, pasta, brown rice and eat a lot of vegetables and fruits.

Constipation. Again this is an effect of the increasing level of progesterone during pregnancy. Progesterone tends to slow the bowel movement and delayed the passage of food in the digestive tract. This problem may be aggravated in the later stage of pregnancy where the uterus is getting bigger and pushes the rectum. Taking iron supplements for anemia treatment will deteriorate the condition.

The suggested treatment for the prevention of constipation is eating high-fiber diet, like cereals, wheat bread, and lot of vegetables and fruits. You may as well add several tablespoons of raw wheat bran to your cereals during the morning and drink a glass of water.

Heartburn. This is a burning sensation felt in the chest and throat, accompanied by a sour, acidic taste in your mouth. This will be experienced by a lot of pregnant women. Again and again it is the effect of the increasing progesterone that soften the ligaments of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). In normal situation this LES is kept tightly closed. The relaxation of LES may cause a black flow of food and gastric acid from the stomach back into the esophagus and throat.

Another factor that worsens this sensation is the growing baby that pushes the stomach upwards causing the reflux of food and gastric acid. Some things can be pursued to avoid this happen. Avoid heart burning trigger foods like chocolate, citrus or sour fruits, mint products, spicy, fried and fatty food. Also avoid drinks that contain caffeine like coffee, tea, cola etc.

Varicose veins These are superficial swollen veins that usually appear in the legs, but can be found around the vagina opening or vulva. They are blue or purple in color and sometimes form a spider like pattern. This occurs due to the pressure of the growing baby to the veins (inferior vena cava in particular) returning blood to the heart at the right sight of your body. The pressure blocks the blood stream causing the enlargement of the lower extremity veins.

There may be no discomfort, or you probably just may feel a little heavy and achy in your legs. You may also feel an itchy skin, or even a burning sensation. At the end of the day the symptoms is likely to get worse, especially if you have been walking or standing a lot.

Carpal tunnel syndrome. This problem is indicated by the numbness, burning sensation, tingling, dull ache or pain in your finger, hand and wrist that may even ascend to your arm and shoulder. It usually affects both hands and may show at any time. This condition tends to be more severe in the 2nd half of pregnancy where the tendency of fluid retention becomes prominent. The symptoms may disappear gradually after labor which is the time when the swelling due to fluid retention recedes.

This happens because of the narrowing of the carpal tunnel, a bony canal at the wrist, due to swollen tissue and fluid retention which further will press the median nerve that runs in this carpal tunnel together with a ligament. The pressure on the median nerve causes the symptoms.

Bleeding gums. Pregnancy hormones should be responsible for the tendency of easy bleeding gums. The hormone will trigger an inflammation on your gum (gingivitis) which make it more sensitive and easily bleed during brushing or flossing.

Thus it is really important to provide good care of your teeth and gums. The gingivitis should be well treated to avoid periodontitis which is more serious infection that penetrates deeper into the bone and tissues that suppose to strengthen your teeth.

Well that concludes the most common problems that you may encounter in your future pregnancy. There other more serious conditions or illness that might get in the way of a healthy pregnancy. These are called by pregnancy complications which need special treatments as an effort to keep the mother and child healthy and alive during and after labor.

Some common pregnancy complication to mention a few are: miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy (pregnant outside the womb), hyperemesis gravidarum (severe vomiting), gestational diabetes, negative Rhesus factor, placental disorders, HIV – AIDS, fetal growth restriction, toxoplasmosis and some other disorders, which I am not going to discuss it now.