Fainting during pregnancy is a natural stress test and it may be a sign of certain diseases, notes Padma Kaul, an epidemiologist.
"Pregnancy is a natural stress test for the woman's system. Fainting during pregnancy may identify women who are at higher risk of cardiovascular complications down the road," notes Kaul
It was first noted as a not dangerous condition because it is a relatively rare event and no serious research has been done to establish its causes.
"Fainting is a relatively rare event and nobody has studied it systematically at a population level. Generally, clinicians thought it was fairly unalarming. So that's what we were expecting to find," she explained.
However, fainting during pregnancy has been linked to certain conditions
Below are some of the causes;
1. Low-blood sugar
Low-blood sugar can make a pregnant woman lose consciousness. When you have a low blood sugar level, the smooth flow of blood in the brain is compromised.
To avoid low blood sugar, don't skip your meals when you are pregnant.
2. Low-iron level
Pregnant women who don't eat foods enriched with enough iron experience anaemia, a medical condition in which the capacity of the blood to transport oxygen to the tissues is reduced, either because of too few red blood cells, or because of too little haemoglobin, resulting in fainting.
3. Reduced circulation
This might be due to stress or fatigue. Distraught pregnant women normally swoon due to the reduced circulation.