Pregnancy is a Significant Risk Factor for DVT: Here’s What You Should Know

As though you don’t have enough to worry about when you’re pregnant, you need to know that you’re 5 times more likely to develop a blood clot than you were before conception. The risk arises from a condition called deep vein thrombosis.

Many things can happen to your body during pregnancy. One of them, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), brings 5 times the risk of developing a blood clot than you were before conception.

Vascular medicine specialist Dr. Enrique Hernandez of Advanced Vascular Cardiac & Veins in Miami, Florida, provides vascular ultrasounds for the diagnosis of DVT during pregnancy, guiding your treatment to give you and your baby the best chance for a healthy delivery.

What is deep vein thrombosis?

DVT isn’t common during pregnancy, but while you’re carrying your child, and for a few months after you give birth, you’re at a greater risk for it. When conditions arise so that blood pools in your legs, clots may form.

Near your skin’s surface, you may see varicose veins form. In the deep veins, clotting, called a thrombus, is more likely. While this thrombus may not create symptoms for some patients, others may suffer from:

Cramping, pain, or soreness
Skin discoloration
Swelling in the lower legs and ankles
Enlarged veins on the legs’ surface
Warm feelings in the legs

The chances of having DVT without symptoms during or after pregnancy are usually low. DVT during pregnancy affects the lower left leg 82% of the time.

Why DVT occurs during pregnancy

Pregnancy is an intense hormonal event that manages the many changes to your body that bearing a child creates. Three of these changes directly influence the development of DVT and blood clots.

First, clotting factors in your blood increase to help control bleeding during childbirth. However, this clotting ability peaks before birth and can lead to the formation of clots.

Next, vein walls become weaker. This is due to hormonal changes to tissue to allow for the passage of your child at delivery. While most useful when ligaments and tendons benefit from this additional stretching, veins in the legs are more likely to become varicose, a common side effect of pregnancy.

Finally, the size and weight of your baby can press on blood vessels in the pelvis, reducing blood flow to the legs.

Does a DVT pose a threat to you or your baby?

Only about 1 pregnancy out of every 1,000 involves a blood clot. If you have other risk factors for DVT, it’s a good idea to screen for the condition.

Undiagnosed DVT can result in a blood clot breaking away and traveling through your body to the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism, one of the most common reasons for pregnancy-related fatalities. Blood clots can also cause other problems including heart attack, miscarriage, and stroke.

Once diagnosed and monitored, DVT is not an emergency condition, and the risk to you and your baby is low. DVT treatments don’t affect the placenta or your breast milk, so your baby isn’t influenced by the steps needed to control your condition.

Contact one of Advanced Vascular Cardiac & Veins’ two Miami locations for a DVT exam and evaluation. Call or message us to schedule your appointment today.