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Ovarian pain in pregnancy
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
Quite often in gynecologists' offices women complain of pain in the ovaries during pregnancy. The reasons for such sensations may be different. Let's try to figure out when you shouldn't panic and when you definitely need to raise the alarm. Pregnancy is a special time when every woman gets to know her body much better and gets to know herself. During this amazing period, a woman's body, her hormonal background, mental and emotional state change. Unfortunately, as a rule, in the first or second trimester of pregnancy, many expectant mothers experience an unpleasant sensation of pain in the ovaries. Sometimes they can be aching, dull in nature, but sometimes they can be quite sharp.
Causes ovarian pain with pregnancy
- Stretching of ligaments. During pregnancy, a woman's uterus grows and rises higher, and along with this, the adjacent organs, namely the ovaries, rise higher. Therefore, when a woman thinks that she feels pain in the place where the ovaries are usually located, she is mistaken, they are most likely no longer there. And the pain can be caused by the ligaments that support the uterus, which stretch during its active growth.
- Inflammatory processes in the ovaries (adnexitis) or their appendages (oophoritis), against the background of which conception occurred. In this case, the pregnant woman should be under constant supervision of her gynecologist, since such a picture may carry a real threat of premature termination of pregnancy.
- Pain in the intestines, radiating to the lower abdomen. Often, women perceive any pain in the lower abdomen as pain in the ovaries. This is not true. Various intestinal diseases can lead to pain spreading throughout the lower part of the abdominal cavity. A pregnant woman needs to carefully monitor her diet, making sure to achieve regular and soft stool. If such pain is prolonged, you need to consult a doctor.
- Ovarian neoplasms. Benign and malignant neoplasms such as cysts or tumors can cause severe ovarian pain during pregnancy. Pregnant women with such a diagnosis must be under constant medical supervision and often spend almost the entire pregnancy in the hospital gynecological department.
- An ectopic pregnancy can also cause severe pain in the ovaries and lower abdomen.
Read also: Ovarian pain
Ovarian pain is a very common occurrence among young girls and women aged 18 to 25 (on average). Most often, this is the period when the first pregnancy occurs. Surprisingly, many women claim that after childbirth, when the body returns to normal and is fully restored, these pains go away on their own and no longer cause discomfort. Most likely, this phenomenon can be associated with a change in the woman's hormonal background.
There are cases when ovarian pain during pregnancy is caused by psychological problems, such as depression or hypochondria. Unfortunately, such conditions of the nervous system can adversely affect the entire period of pregnancy, as well as leave an unfavorable imprint on the formation of the fetus.
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Treatment ovarian pain with pregnancy
If you feel severe pain in the ovaries during pregnancy, then this is already a good enough reason to contact a gynecologist at the clinic. Treatment can be undertaken if the risk to the fetus does not exceed the benefit to the mother. In order to accurately diagnose the cause of such pain, you must first take tests for genitourinary infections and undergo an ultrasound examination. If the pain in the ovaries during pregnancy is caused by stretching of the ligaments, then in this case it will pass with a change in body position, breathing exercises and complete relaxation - both physical and psychological.