Contact careCheck with your care teamSymptom guidance

Rib, side or chest-wall pain

Pain around the ribs can be musculoskeletal, but severe, persistent or upper-right pain needs assessment rather than being attributed to posture or the baby's position.

Direct guidance

What to know or do

Note whether movement, touch or breathing changes it and whether headache, vision change, swelling, fever, breathlessness, chest pressure, bleeding or feeling very unwell is present. Use emergency care for severe breathing difficulty, collapse or crushing chest pain.

What changes the answer

  • When it began, whether it is worsening, and how it affects eating, sleep or activity
  • Severity, pattern, one-sided symptoms and accompanying bleeding, fever or fluid loss
  • Pregnancy week, baby movement and relevant conditions or medicines

Check with your care team

When to get individual help

Contact your doctor or maternity service promptly and describe the timing, severity, associated symptoms and pregnancy week so they can choose the right assessment.