When Cynthia Corona from San Jose, Calif., contacted a Pregnancy Today site expert about her light spotting, she was, as she says, "freaking out." Her spotting had been intermittent, just some pink and brown on the toilet tissue, but she was terrified of losing the pregnancy. An ultrasound a few weeks later calmed her fears. Not only was she still pregnant, but she was expecting twins. The spotting turned out to be just her body's way of adjusting to a twin pregnancy.

Although very scary, especially for a first-time mother-to-be, spotting is fairly common in pregnancy, especially during the first trimester. What can ease a woman's fears is understanding the reasons for spotting and knowing what action she should take.

When a woman finds anything that even remotely resembles blood when she's pregnant, her first thought is usually of miscarriage. But according to Dr. Aneema Van Groenou, a staff physician at Kaiser Permanente in Hayward, Calif., and the author of The Active Woman's Guide to Pregnancy: Practical Advice for Getting Outdoors When Expecting (Ten Speed Press, 2004), a miscarriage generally has some pretty specific symptoms associated with it aside from just spotting.

"Some people do spot during a typical pregnancy, especially in the first three months as your body adjusts to the hormone levels," says Dr. Van Groenou. "It commonly happens around the time your period would be due. Sometimes people don't even realize they're pregnant because they bleed right on schedule."

Content on this site is not a substitute for professional medical or healthcare advice, diagnosis or treatment, and may not be used for such purposes. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical question or condition. Reliance on information presented on this site is at your own risk. This site contains the opinions and views of other users. Given the interactive nature of this site, we cannot endorse, guarantee, or be responsible for the accuracy, efficacy, or veracity of any content generated by our users.