For the partner: the warning signs to learn
A federal campaign wrote this guidance for you. Most partners have never seen it.
CDC runs a campaign called Hear Her, aimed explicitly at People who support pregnant and postpartum women (including partners, family, and friends).
It exists because, in CDC's words, more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths could be prevented.
What CDC tells the partner to do, quoted in full
- "Learn the urgent maternal warning signs."
- "Listen to her concerns and encourage her to seek medical help."
- "If something doesn't feel right, she should reach out to her provider."
- "If she is experiencing an urgent maternal warning sign, she should get medical care right away."
- "Be sure that she says she is pregnant or was pregnant within the last year."
- "Offer to go with her to visit a health care provider and help her ask questions."
- "Support her through follow-up care."
The signs themselves. This list was developed by the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health and is published by CDC. It applies during pregnancy and for the whole year after birth.
| Sign | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Headache that will not go away or gets worse | Worst headache of her life, thunderclap onset, or with blurred vision or dizziness |
| Dizziness or fainting | Fainting, ongoing dizziness, or a gap in time she cannot account for |
| Changes in vision | Flashes, bright spots, blind spots, blurred or double vision |
| Fever 100.4°F (38°C) or higher | |
| Extreme swelling of hands or face | Cannot bend fingers or wear rings, face puffy, lips or mouth swollen or numb |
| Thoughts of harming herself or the baby | Hopelessness, feeling no control, unwanted frightening thoughts |
| Trouble breathing | Including trouble breathing lying flat, or needing pillows to sleep |
| Chest pain or a fast-beating heart | Tightness, pain to back neck or arm, pounding or skipped beats |
| Severe nausea and vomiting | Unable to drink for 8 hours or eat for 24 |
| Severe belly pain that does not go away | Sharp, stabbing, sudden or worsening |
| Baby's movement stopping or slowing (during pregnancy) | There is no specific number of movements that is considered normal. A change in your baby's movement is what is important. |
| Bleeding or fluid leaking (during pregnancy) | More than spotting, fluid leaking, or foul-smelling discharge |
| Bleeding or discharge after the birth | Soaking through one or more pads in an hour, or clots bigger than an egg |
| Severe swelling, redness or pain in a leg or arm | Usually one calf; red, swollen, warm. Any time in pregnancy and up to 6 weeks after birth |
| Overwhelming tiredness | Sudden, not chronic. So tired that you don't get up to take care of your baby |
CDC's own closing caveat, which belongs with the list: This list is not meant to cover every symptom you might have. If you feel like something just isn't right, or you aren't sure if it's serious, talk to your health care provider. Be sure to tell them if you are pregnant or were pregnant within the last year.
Why you should learn these rather than assume she was toldA study of 52 nurses across six hospitals found that warning signs
Discharge day is the worst possible moment to be given safety-critical information, and it is when most of it is given. Learn the list yourself, in advance.
Note also that CDC's Hear Her campaign is supported through a partnership with the CDC Foundation and funding from Merck. This guide holds others to a disclosure standard and applies it here.
were not the primary focus of the education,were
most often discussed on the day of discharge,and that nurses
did not consistently describe the same signs and symptoms... with each and every woman.
Discharge day is the worst possible moment to be given safety-critical information, and it is when most of it is given. Learn the list yourself, in advance.
Note also that CDC's Hear Her campaign is supported through a partnership with the CDC Foundation and funding from Merck. This guide holds others to a disclosure standard and applies it here.
Where this comes from:
420. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hear Her campaign: how you can help. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services; page last reviewed 9 July 2024.
421. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hear Her campaign: urgent maternal warning signs. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services; page last reviewed 2024. List developed by the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health.
373. Optimizing postpartum care. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 736. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Obstet Gynecol. 2018;131(5):e140-e150. Reaffirmed 2025.
424. Suplee PD, Kleppel L, Bingham D. Discharge education on maternal morbidity and mortality provided by nurses to women in the postpartum period. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2016;45(6):894-904.
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This page is educational. It supports the conversation with your own clinicians. It is not consent to any treatment, and it cannot assess you. If you are worried about a symptom now, see urgent warning signs.