What causes stomach pain?

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My wife has been experiencing stomach ache, once a month, since we got married. Now she is two months pregnant and the stomachache is severe. She visited the gynaecologist and she was given medication but it has not helped. Won’t the pain harm the baby?
-Ronnie

Dear Ronnie: Stomach pain once a month in a woman who not in menopause or pregnant, may be related to periods because the periods come once a month.
Though periods are mostly painless, some women may experience some discomfort which is not related to any medical problems. However, period pain may be related to other medical problems including an infection in the internal sexual organs (PID).
PID on its own may cause lower abdominal pain and is commonly related to pregnancy in the fallopian tube, a common cause of lower abdominal pain in early pregnancy. Doctors usually do tests to rule out pregnancy in the tubes and when there is no such pregnancy, may just give some mild medication to stem the problem. However, most times the pain is caused by an expanding pregnant womb and doctors are wary of giving pain killers in a normal early pregnancy when organs in the unborn are forming.
Pain is usually treated by addressing its cause, which when it’s due to expansion of the womb in pregnancy is usually treated verbally (“verbocaine”) but in those usually pregnant for the first time, the pain may not go away that easily. It is good to note that this pain is likely to wane in a few months but the advice still is to keep visiting the antenatal clinic for more advice.