Bleeding at 16 weeks (abroad)

[Mattietoes]

I am 16 weeks pregnant. All has been going well so far, have had quite a lot of scans due to history of miscarriage (all my losses have been before 8 weeks). I’ve also been into the EPU twice for very very minor spotting (i.e. one wipe of pink) and baby has been fine. I had a cervical exam at 12 weeks and the doctor said she thought she could see a small area on the cervix that could have caused some bleeding. Last had a scan at 13 weeks 2 days and all looked good.

My husband and I have just come on holiday to Italy to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We had sex this morning and when I went to the toilet afterwards I was bleeding. It’s not heavy, but there is pink/red when I wipe and a couple of small drops falling into the toilet bowl each time I go. It started about three hours ago and hasn’t got worse, but also hasn’t stopped. I put a pad on about half an hour ago and we walked around a bit, and there is now a small amount of red blood on the pad.

I am just wondering what to do. We can go to hospital here (we have travel insurance), but obviously it will be stressful as we don’t speak Italian, and I don’t want to go if it’s not necessary. I am also wondering what they will be able to do as it’s a Sunday. Or we can just sit with it and hope it stops/doesn’t get worse? I think the fact that it hasn’t stopped so far is worrying me.

It’s all just a bit of a nightmare and I feel very lost! Any thoughts/experiences would be very much appreciated.

I should add, I have no pain or other symptoms - just the bleeding.

Hi @Mattietoes I completely understand your worry. It's good that you're not having any cramping or pain. I'd say it's probably just from having sex this morning. Especially since a doctor previously said there was an area on your cervix that might have caused bleeding before. If you want reassurance I would go to the local maternity hospital. I work in a clinical setting and have used Google translate many times and it's always been fine. Keep us posted x

They will have English speakers in the hospital if not use translation apps

What would you do if you were in the UK? If you'd normally go to a hospital, then I'd do the same in Italy! As others have said, English is widely spoken by Italians/Dr's and google translate, or even a hospital translator, if the medical terminology is difficult.
Wishing you all the best.

Most likely irritated cervix. I would wait and see if the bleeding progresses then go to the hospital.

I would get checked out. There should definitely be some staff who speak English at the hospital. This happened to me a couple of times in my pregnancy with my ds and they never found out what caused it but it was all ok , presume cervix irritation or something. My gp gave out to me for not going to a&e over the weekend and waiting to see gp on Monday the first time it happened . They did a scan and checked the cervix was closed when I went into hospital. Everything was fine.

How would you approach this at home? I think it’s 99% likely that you’ve irritated your cervix having sex and it will settle down soon. However if the worst was happening it is still too soon for them to do anything really. The lack of pain or cramping is a great sign. If you would prefer to go for reassurance and that is how you would approach it at home then please go! They will be able to communicate with you. If you’d take some time and wait and see then that’s okay too and there will be the option for the hospital later if you change your mind

Thanks all. I’m not entirely sure how I would deal with it at home at the weekend… I’m not sure I would go to A&E - as some have said, there’s not necessarily much they could do.

The bleeding hasn’t completely stopped but has very much died down over the course of the day, and has turned more watery brown/pink. Still no pain or other symptoms. I figure that if it gets worse tomorrow, at least it’s Monday and probably a better day to go to hospital if necessary. But I’m really hoping that by tomorrow it might have stopped.

That sounds positive. Keep us updated!

It’s very likely just cervical irritation from sex. Increased blood flow going on already and small blood vessels can break during sex.

The bleeding seemed to stop overnight then after walking to the train station this morning I felt it start again. When I checked it was brown discharge, sort of mucus-like. I’m having very slight cramps/period-type feelings in my lower stomach. I think brown discharge is less worrying than fresh blood? But the period feelings are worrying me. I’m still not hugely keen to go to hospital but obviously will if it seems necessary.

Brown is old blood so definitely not as bad. I had heavy bleeding at 11 weeks and went to hospital, they made me feel like I was wasting their time and there wasn't anything they could do. It sounds like just minor irritation in this case, I hope all is well with your baby.

Orgasms can result in some cramping - I wouldn’t be concerned given this only happened after sex and it’s already turning brown.