Urgent Maternal Warning Signs
The following are symptoms to watch for while you are pregnant and for one year after pregnancy. If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms or something doesn’t feel right, get help.
Here's a conversation guide to help you talk to your provider about the signs below.
Symptoms
- Severe headache that won't go away or gets worse over time
- Overwhelming tiredness
- Swelling, redness or pain of your leg
- Vaginal bleeding or fluid leaking during pregnancy
- Baby's movements stopping or slowing during pregnant
- Severe belly pain that doesn't go away
- Severe nausea and throwing up (not like morning sickness)
- Chest pain or fast-beating heart
- Trouble breathing
- Thoughts about harming yourself or your baby
- Extreme swelling of your hands or face
- Fever of 100.4 °F (38 °C) or higher
- Changes in your vision
- Dizziness or fainting
- Heavy vaginal bleeding or leaking fluid that smells bad after pregnancy
Health Services
- Genetic Counselor
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You may be referred to a genetic counselor if you have a personal or family history of a genetic condition or birth defect. Genetic counseling can help your family understand the risk of the condition being passed on. For example, sickle cell disease.
- Maternal-fetal Medicine Specialist
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You may be referred to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist if your pregnancy is considered high-risk. This can include conditions like:
- asthma
- diabetes
- twins or multiples
- mother being over 35 years of age at time of delivery
- previous miscarriage
- Doulas
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- Midwives
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- Mental Health & Substance Use
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- Nutrition & Breastfeeding
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- San Antonio Lactation Support Center
Offers no-cost services like access to International Board Certified Lactation Consultants and Registered Dietitians, group support, and lactation management to all breastfeeding mothers in Bexar County.
- Women, Infants & Children (WIC)
A nutrition program for pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women and infants and children younger than 5 years old.
- Folic Acid
Getting folic acid every day prevents some serious birth defects.
- Pelvic Floor Therapy
- A type of physical therapy that can help with pelvic pain and disorders.
Parent & Family Support
Your health isn’t only affected by your medical care. Things like financial stability, access to nutritious foods, and safe housing also play a role. Below are some organizations in San Antonio and Bexar County that focus on all the other things that impact our wellness.
- ABC and Sarah’s Heart of Sharing Hearts Texas
- Provide support groups, end of life services and grief support to help families cope with the loss of a baby.
- Empower House
- Hosts community programs for women, parents and youth.
- Family Service
- Provides support for education, mental well-being, and family and community building.
- Guadalupe Home
- A shelter for homeless pregnant women, mothers and their babies.
- Healthy Start
- Offers case management and other services for healthy pregnancies and beyond.
- Latched Support Inc
- Provides information on pregnancy, breastfeeding, parenting and car seat safety.
- Monster Moms Inc
- Offers women’s hygiene products, parenting classes and life skills courses.
- SA Hope Center
- Offers case management and services for parenting, mental health, education and healthy foods.
- San Antonio Ready to Work
- A training, education,and employment program.
- The Triple P – Positive Parenting Program
- Gives parents simple and practical parenting tools.
- YWCA San Antonio
- Provides programs on topics including job training, women’s health services and child education.
Substance Use Disorder & Pregnancy
Use of alcohol, illicit drugs, and other substances affects individuals, families and communities across San Antonio and the nation, including during pregnancy.
Why It Matters
- Substance use disorder is a chronic condition, like asthma or diabetes, not a moral failing — and it is treatable.
- Stigma prevents people from seeking help and worsens health outcomes.
- Hearing personal stories can change perspectives and build empathy in our community.
Hear the Story
Real-life voices show how personal and different each journey can be. These stories are not just statistics — they are real stories of strength and hard times.
When we hear the story, we help each other understand, reduce judgment, and shine a light on hidden problems women face when they're pregnant and dealing with substance use disorder.
Research shows that the fear of judgment in healthcare settings often makes pregnant women delay or skip care, which puts both them and their babies at greater risk. One national study found that pregnant women who used substances were about 70% more likely to not receive adequate prenatal care compared to those who did not use substances.
These fears — of stigma, of being reported, of automatically losing children to the foster care system — can make it harder to reach out for help, even when support is needed most. We invite you to hear the story.
Information for Medical Providers
- The Institute for Trauma-Informed Care
- Provides training, technical assistance, and coaching to organizations that wish to become certified in trauma-informed care.
- PeriPAN
- A no-cost program that offers real-time access to mental health experts for clinicians serving pregnant and postpartum women.
- UT Health San Antonio's Mommies Toolkit (PDF)
- A set of no-cost interactive modules for providers whose patients have been impacted by Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. 1.0 CE provided for each module.
- Clinician Ambassadors
- Clinician Ambassadors work to promote evidence-based, culturally competent, trauma-informed, and stigma-free health care. They provide individual and group sessions, presentations, and resources to help providers address public health issues commonly encountered in primary care, urgent care, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology.
- Local Resources Guide(PDF, 17MB)
- Integrating positive and adverse childhood experiences into pediatric care.
Taking Care of People Who Use Substances
- Use people-first language when talking or writing about pregnant women with a substance use disorder: e.g., say "person who uses substances" instead of "addict." View the American Hospital Association tip sheet.
- Offer non-judgmental support and inclusive approaches to create safe spaces. Respect that harm reduction looks different for everyone and strive to build authentic healing relationships. Read Creating Safe Care (Camden Coalition).
- Conduct universal screening for substance use with validated tools.
- Transparently communicate policies about urine drug testing and what information will be communicated to Child Protective Services. The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists recommends testing only with the patient's consent. View the Clinical Consensus Statement.
- For challenging clinical scenarios, take advantage of free tele mentoring from Center for Substance Use Training and Telementoring (C-STAT).
- Refer to Be Well Texas and take advantage of their provider resources for substance use counseling and treatment.
- Refer to University's Mommies program, for trauma-informed prenatal care for people who use substances.
- Educate colleagues and collaborate to reduce stigma within our healthcare systems.
- Support policies and programs that integrate prenatal care, substance use treatment, and postpartum support for pregnant women dealing with SUD.