Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that develops during pregnancy in women who did not have diabetes before. The placenta produces hormones that make your cells less responsive to insulin. Most of the time the pancreas compensates by making more. When it cannot keep up, glucose builds in the bloodstream, and routine screening can show…
DetailsInsomnia during early pregnancy is common, and it often occurs long before there is any bump to blame it on. Studies of pregnant women consistently find that sleep problems begin in the first trimester and affect a large share of patients, even those who slept easily before conceiving. The frustrating part is that early pregnancy…
DetailsMenopause occurs at a single point in time, and is not a phase. It is defined as the day you have gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period, and it can only be identified looking backward. Everything leading up to that point is perimenopause, and everything after it is postmenopause. Understanding which stage you…
DetailsStillbirth is the loss of a baby at 20 weeks of pregnancy or later. In the United States it affects roughly 1 in 175 births, and CDC data show that in 2024, there were about 5.4 stillbirths per 1,000 babies born. This is the lowest rate of stillbirths in decades but is still close to…
DetailsMigraine is a neurological condition, not just a bad headache, and it is strongly influenced by estrogen. That connection explains something many women in their 40s notice with frustration: migraines that were once predictable start occurring more often, last longer, and respond less reliably to the medication that used to work. Some women get their…
DetailsVulvar itching is a skin symptom, and the vulva is skin. It is subject to the same conditions that affect skin anywhere else on your body, plus a few that occur only here. Yeast infections get the credit for nearly all of it, but studies have repeatedly found that many women who buy over-the-counter antifungal…
DetailsPregnancy-related leg cramps are sudden, involuntary contractions of the calf or foot muscle that lock the muscle tight for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. They are one of the most common complaints of the second and third trimesters, and studies suggest somewhere between a third and a half of pregnant women…
DetailsBack pain in pregnancy is caused by a set of changes that begin far earlier than most women expect. Within the first trimester, your body starts producing relaxin, a hormone that loosens the ligaments and joints of your pelvis to prepare for delivery. Progesterone rises sharply and relaxes smooth muscle throughout your body. Blood volume…
DetailsChronic pelvic pain is pain below your belly button and between your hips that lasts six months or longer. It can be constant or come and go, and it may or may not be tied to your period. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists estimates it affects roughly 15% to 20% of women between…
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