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Pregnancy & Women's Health Signs
Signs in pregnancy and women's health: the classic early-pregnancy signs found on examination, dating rules, fetal position manoeuvres, and the pelvic pain signs of inflammation and internal bleeding.
This page lists all 17 of them in the guide. Open any sign for how it is elicited, what it suggests, and its eponym story where it has one.
| Sign | System | A positive finding is associated with |
|---|---|---|
| Braxton Hicks contractions | Pregnancy & Women's Health | A normal feature of pregnancy from mid-gestation; their becoming regular and painful is associated with the onset of labour. |
| Chadwick's sign | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with early pregnancy; one of the classic presumptive signs. |
| Chandelier sign | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and other causes of pelvic peritoneal irritation. |
| Fothergill's sign | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with rectus sheath haematoma, often after coughing, straining or anticoagulant treatment. |
| Goodell's sign | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with early pregnancy. |
| Hegar's sign | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with early pregnancy. |
| Krukenberg tumour sign | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with metastatic spread to the ovaries, classically from a gastric primary cancer. |
| Leopold's manoeuvres | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Used to assess fetal lie, presentation and position in later pregnancy. |
| Linea nigra | Pregnancy & Women's Health | A normal change associated with pregnancy hormones increasing skin pigmentation. |
| McDonald's rule | Pregnancy & Women's Health | A simple bedside guide to fetal growth; a large discrepancy is associated with growth problems, twins or abnormal fluid volumes. |
| Melasma (chloasma) | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with pregnancy (the 'mask of pregnancy') and hormonal contraception, combined with sunlight. |
| Montgomery's tubercles | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with pregnancy, from the increased activity of the areolar glands. |
| Nägele's rule | Pregnancy & Women's Health | The standard first estimate of the due date (EDD) in pregnancy, assuming a 28-day cycle. |
| Osiander's sign | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with early pregnancy; one of the older, less-used presumptive signs. |
| Piskacek's sign | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with early pregnancy, reflecting the site of implantation. |
| Spalding's sign | Pregnancy & Women's Health | Associated with intrauterine fetal death, appearing about a week after death. |
| Striae gravidarum | Pregnancy & Women's Health | A normal skin change associated with pregnancy, from stretching and hormonal effects on the skin. |
Please note: This page is an educational reference about clinical examination signs. A clinical sign supports — and never replaces — a full clinical evaluation, examination and appropriate testing. A sign being present does not by itself prove a diagnosis, and an absent sign does not rule one out. If you have symptoms that worry you, see a health professional.