Q&A: Are cramps in early pregnancy normal?

Good news! Cramping in early pregnancy is quite common. If you have no bleeding, cramping is unlikely to represent an impending miscarriage or other pregnancy complication. You just have to get through it until it resolves. Associated early pregnancy bleeding would make the situation a threatened miscarriage, although even then many pregnancies proceed normally.

Severe pain, or pain that is on one side only, can be a sign of a tubal pregnancy (ectopic), a dangerous situation in which the pregnancy lodges itself in the fallopian tube and grows there. Ectopics must be treated urgently, since they can rupture the tube and lead to internal bleeding. Unfortunately the pregnancy cannot be saved when it is in the tube—the focus has to be on the mother's health and future fertility. The earlier an ectopic is diagnosed, the more options for treatment are available, including options to save the tube.

Talk to your doctor or midwife, particularly if the cramps become severe, are associated with vaginal bleeding, or are located on one side only.