Blood clots in the legs during pregnancy, is it dangerous?

Pregnant women are up to 5-10 times more likely to develop blood clots in their legs than those who are not pregnant. A blood clot in one of the large blood vessels in the leg is known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). If this blood clot breaks off and travels to other parts of the body, especially to the lungs, it can be fatal. What causes blood clots in the legs during pregnancy and how can you deal with them?

What causes blood clots in the legs during pregnancy?

Clotting blood is normal and basically harmless. The clotting process is needed to prevent you from losing a lot of blood in certain situations, such as when you are injured. Your body will naturally dissolve the clot once the injury heals. But sometimes, blood clots can occur without starting any injury.

In pregnant women, the risk of blood clots in the legs is higher because the body produces large amounts of special blood clotting proteins during pregnancy, while the blood-thinning proteins are produced only slightly. This keeps any lumps that may have formed from dissolving.

An enlarged uterus during pregnancy can also increase your risk of developing a DVT because it compresses the blood vessels in the lower body, thus blocking blood flow back to the heart.

What are the signs and symptoms of blood clots in the legs during pregnancy?

DVT is not common during pregnancy. However, women who are pregnant and up to 6 weeks after birth are more likely to experience DVT than women who are not pregnant of the same age.

The most common symptoms of DVT are the feet that look swollen, tender, and the skin is warm / hot red, and has pain resembling severe muscle cramps. DVT usually only occurs in one leg. As many as 80 percent of cases of DVT during pregnancy occur on the left leg.

How to distinguish DVT from leg muscle cramps?

Muscle cramps are common during pregnancy. Usually muscle cramps occur in the calves, especially at night during the second and third trimesters.

Leg pain caused by regular muscle cramps will subside and slowly go away with rest, stretching, taking magnesium supplements, and wearing comfortable footwear. Muscle cramps also won't cause your feet to appear swollen.

On the other hand, leg pain due to DVT will not subside with rest or after taking a walk. The leg that is sore from DVT also looks swollen and feels hot. Other symptoms include:

Feet hurts when standing or moving.
Your feet hurt more and more when you bend your legs towards your knees.
Red skin on the back of the leg, usually below the knee

What are the risk factors for developing DVT during pregnancy?

Your risk of developing DVT during pregnancy increases if you:

Have a family history of blood clotting.
Age when pregnant is more than 35 years.
Pregnant and obese with a BMI> 30.
Are experiencing a serious infection or serious injury, such as a broken bone.
Pregnant with twins.
Smoke
Have varicose veins on the legs
Experiencing dehydration

Is there an effect for your baby?

If the clot is small, it may not cause any symptoms. If they are large enough, the blood clot may fall off and travel back into the lungs causing chest pain and difficulty breathing.

About one in 10 people with untreated DVT can develop severe pulmonary embolism. Large clots that get stuck in the lungs can cause damage to the lungs, and result in heart failure.

Even so, blood clots in the legs during pregnancy do not affect the baby unless there are serious complications.

How to treat blood clots in the legs during pregnancy?

DVT is easy to treat. One way to do this is by injecting the blood thinner drug heparin every day to prevent blood clots from getting bigger. This medication also helps blood clots dissolve more quickly, and reduces the risk of further blood clots.

Injections should only be done by an authorized doctor, generally a blood specialist your obstetrician referral to, and it should be done from a diagnosis of DVT up to 6 weeks after delivery. The total length of treatment is about 3 months. Throughout the time of therapy you will also be required to have regular check-ups and blood tests to make sure the blood clots have dissolved and do not appear again.

Heparin injections are safe to use during pregnancy because they don't cross the placenta, so there's no risk to your baby. Your pregnancy can go on as usual. The heparin injection will be stopped as soon as you give birth or 24 hours before labor induction or a planned cesarean delivery.

If you want to breastfeed your baby, you should stop the injection after delivery and change to warfarin (Coumadin) tablets to make sure the baby's blood doesn't decrease.

In addition to treatment with heparin, you are also advised to stay active and wear special stockings on the swollen legs.