When Sandra Blitz was 22 weeks pregnant with her first child, she stood up from lying on the couch and was overcome by pain radiating down her leg, which was swollen and purplish. She phoned her husband, who was in surgical training at the time, and described her symptoms. He told her to go to hospital.
It turns out Blitz had developed a blood clot in a vein in her pelvis. The clot, called a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), in her groin, blocked blood from flowing into her left leg and she ended up staying in the hospital on blood thinners for two weeks. Though it was a frightening experience for the first-time mom, her main concern was for the health of her baby.
?Once I knew my baby was okay I was all right,? says the now mom-of-two in Kelowna, B.C. ?The pain was substantial but when that started to subside I was fine.? Blood clots during pregnancy are uncommon?there?s only a one in a thousand chance of developing one?but the even more rare risk of blood clots from the AstraZeneca vaccine has called attention to the fact that women can be at an increased risk of blood clots for many reasons throughout their lives.
Expecting mothers are at a higher risk of developing a blood clot during their nine months of pregnancy and also up to six weeks (and even 12 weeks in some cases) postpartum. Likewise, taking a combination birth control pill, with both estrogen and progestin, is associated with a risk of developing a blood clot about four times that of women not on a birth control pi...