Do I have fibroids?

After three years of trying, I am finally pregnant. However, I have been having a lot of lower abdominal pain. Could it be fibroids?

Esther

Dear Esther,
Lower abdominal pain in pregnancy could be caused by many factors including constipation, back issues and a urinary tract infection.
Having fibroids does not always lead to failure to get pregnant but once one gets pregnant, she may have complications including a miscarriage, or pregnancy in the fallopian tubes (among many others) both of which can lead to lower abdominal pain in early pregnancy.

Expansion of the womb in pregnancy can lead to lower abdominal pain in early pregnancy. As the womb expands even the fibroids expand, with a likelihood of the fibroids outstripping their own blood supply (red degeneration) leading to pain. The degeneration is seen most often in fibroids that are bigger than five centimetres during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, yet your pregnancy, seems to be around two weeks.

You may have to see your gynaecologist for tests to rule out a likely impending miscarriage.
There is also the possibility that the pregnancy test was falsely positive and you are about to have your periods although delayed.

What are fibroids?
Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous tumours that grow from the muscle layers of the womb. These benign growths of smooth muscle can vary from the size of a bean to being as large as a melon. Fibroids affect around 30 per cent of all women by the age of 35 years, and from 20 to 80 per cent by the age of 50. They usually develop between the ages of 16 to 50 years. These are the reproductive years during which oestrogen levels are higher.