Early signs of pregnancy: first symptoms, pregnancy tests and what to do next

The most common early sign of pregnancy is a missed period. Other pregnancy symptoms usually start at about 4 to 6 weeks of pregnancy. These weeks are counted from the first day of your last period, so this is around the time your next period is due, or a week or two after.

Not everyone has every sign. Signs include:

• a missed period
• light spotting around the time your period was due (implantation bleeding)
• feeling sick or vomiting (morning sickness), at any time of the day or night
• feeling very tired after your usual tasks
• sore, tender or bigger breasts
• peeing more often than usual, without pain or burning
• a bloated belly, or constipation
• more vaginal discharge, without itching or soreness
• a metal taste in the mouth, or being bothered by smells
• craving new foods, or going off foods you usually like
• mood changes

These signs can't tell you for sure that you are pregnant. Some, like sore breasts, also happen before a period. A pregnancy test is the way to find out.

When a fertilised egg attaches to the wall of the womb (uterus), the placenta starts to make a hormone called hCG. This starts about 6 days after fertilisation. hCG stops your periods and tells the body to make other pregnancy hormones. These hormone changes are thought to be one cause of early symptoms such as morning sickness. In early pregnancy, hCG almost doubles every three days. A pregnancy test looks for it in urine or blood.

A late period does not always mean pregnancy. Other common causes are:

• stress
• sudden weight loss, being overweight, or a lot of hard exercise
• hormonal family planning, such as the pill, the injection or the hormonal IUS
• breastfeeding
• polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS, now also called PMOS)
• the start of menopause, usually between ages 45 and 55
• health problems such as thyroid disease or diabetes

If you are not pregnant, see a doctor if you miss 3 periods in a row or your periods become irregular.

Home pregnancy test kits, often called a PT, are sold without a prescription at pharmacies. They check your urine for hCG.

When to test: most kits work from the first day of a missed period. If you don't know when your period is due, test at least 21 days after sex without contraception. Testing 1 to 2 weeks after a missed period gives the most reliable result.

How to test:

1. Check the expiry date, and read the leaflet. Brands differ.
2. If you are testing early, use your first urine of the morning, which has the most hCG. Don't drink a lot of water just before.
3. Hold the stick in your urine stream, or dip it in urine collected in a clean cup.
4. Use a timer and read the result at the time the leaflet says, usually about 5 minutes.
5. Check that the control line appears. If it doesn't, the test did not work. Use a new one.

Reading the result:

• Positive: almost always right. But a test can't show where the pregnancy is growing, so see a doctor, nurse or midwife to confirm it and start your check-ups.
• Negative: you may have tested too early. If your period still doesn't come, test again after a few days to a week. If two tests are negative and there is still no period, see a doctor.
• Very faint line: read it only at the time the leaflet says, then test again after a few days. hCG rises fast in early pregnancy, so a later test may give a clearer answer. If it is still unclear, or you have pain or bleeding, see a health worker.

The contraceptive pill does not stop a test from working. Fertility medicines can give a false positive.

A blood test at a clinic can find a pregnancy before a missed period, but it costs more and takes longer. A pregnancy test is part of the free PhilHealth maternity package (see free prenatal check-ups).

1. Book your first prenatal check-up early. WHO advises a first check-up within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. You can start at your barangay health station or rural health unit (RHU), a lying-in clinic, a YAKAP clinic or an OB-GYN. Regular check-ups help find and manage problems early.

2. Ask about iron and folic acid. WHO recommends a daily iron and folic acid supplement in pregnancy to help prevent anaemia, low birth weight and early birth. Your health worker will tell you which one to take.

3. Don't drink alcohol or smoke, and avoid illegal drugs.

4. Be careful with medicines. If you take medicine for a long-term condition, see your doctor soon and don't stop it on your own. Ask a doctor, midwife or pharmacist before any new medicine, herbal remedy or supplement. If your test is negative but you could still be pregnant, avoid alcohol, smoking and any medicine you don't need until you are sure, but don't stop a prescribed medicine without asking your doctor.

5. Note your due date. Pregnancy usually lasts 37 to 42 weeks from the first day of your last period. Bring that date to your check-up. An early ultrasound dates the pregnancy more exactly.

Easing morning sickness. It usually eases by weeks 16 to 20 and does not harm the baby. These may help:

• rest, because being tired makes nausea worse
• small, frequent meals of plain foods such as rice, bread or crackers
• cold food, if the smell of hot meals makes you feel sick
• sipping water little and often
• ginger, such as salabat (ask a pharmacist before ginger supplements)

If you are not sure how you feel about being pregnant, you can talk privately with a doctor, nurse or midwife, or ask our free AI pregnancy guide any time.

As of October 2026, PhilHealth's Expanded Maternity Care Benefit (started April 30, 2026) covers care from early pregnancy until after birth. Following Department of Health policy, it covers 8 prenatal check-ups: 1 in the first trimester (months 1 to 3), 2 in the second and 5 in the third.

Covered tests include a pregnancy test, blood typing, complete blood count (CBC), urinalysis, screening for hepatitis B, HIV and syphilis, a sugar test for diabetes in pregnancy (OGTT), and ultrasound, including a transvaginal ultrasound in the first trimester. You also get iron, folic acid and calcium supplements, a tetanus vaccine if needed, and a care coordinator who guides you through your pregnancy.

There is nothing to pay for covered services at an accredited facility, as long as you use basic accommodation when you give birth. Extra tests, a private room or visits beyond the 8 may cost extra. In private facilities, extra visits cost no more than ₱900 in total.

You can get this care at PhilHealth-accredited lying-in clinics and birthing homes, health centres and RHUs, hospital outpatient clinics, YAKAP clinics and laboratories. Check-ups by the midwife at a barangay health station can count too. Ask first if the facility is accredited for maternity care. Pregnant women are asked to register with a YAKAP clinic, which every Filipino can do. If that clinic is not accredited for maternity care, it will refer you to one that is. If you move, ask for a referral letter so you can continue elsewhere.

Find a health centre or a birthing home near you, and read our guides on what PhilHealth covers and PhilHealth YAKAP.

Ectopic pregnancy is when the pregnancy grows outside the womb, usually in a fallopian tube. It cannot grow into a baby, the pregnancy cannot be saved, and it must be treated with medicine or an operation. Some women have no signs at first. When there are signs, they usually appear between weeks 4 and 12:

• belly pain, often low down on one side
• bleeding that is different from a period: it may start and stop, and be watery and dark brown
• pain at the tip of the shoulder
• pain when peeing or pooing, or diarrhoea

See a doctor today for these signs if there is any chance you are pregnant, even after a negative test. The chance of an ectopic pregnancy is higher if you had one before, had a pelvic infection, had fertility treatment or surgery on your tubes, got pregnant while using an IUD or IUS, smoke, or are over 35.

If the tube bursts, it causes sudden, sharp, severe belly pain, with feeling very dizzy or fainting, feeling sick or looking very pale. Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.

Bleeding in early pregnancy is not always serious, but it can be a sign of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or a molar pregnancy (an abnormal growth in the womb). Spotting with no pain or mild pain needs a check today. Heavy bleeding, severe pain, shoulder pain or feeling faint is an emergency.

Severe vomiting (hyperemesis gravidarum) is more than normal morning sickness. It can cause dehydration and may need hospital care. Get checked today if you can't keep food or drinks down for 24 hours, your urine is very dark or you have not peed in more than 8 hours, you feel weak or dizzy when you stand, you have belly pain or a fever, or you are losing weight. Vomiting blood needs help right away. A urine infection can also cause vomiting: see our guide on UTI symptoms.

Many Filipino families have their own customs for early pregnancy. Paglilihi, strong cravings or dislike of some foods, is real and common: changes in appetite, taste and smell are known early signs. Whatever your family believes cravings mean, what is proven to help your baby is early prenatal care, iron and folic acid, healthy food, and no alcohol or smoking.

Some customs can delay care:

• "Keep it quiet until 3 months." You can choose when to tell people, but don't wait to see a health worker. The first check-up belongs in the first 12 weeks.
• "Take pamparegla to bring the period back." If your period is late, take a pregnancy test first, and avoid medicines and herbs until you know.
• "A hilot can tell if the pregnancy is fine." A check-up, sometimes with an ultrasound and blood tests, is how health workers check that a pregnancy is growing in the right place. If you see a hilot, also see a midwife or doctor.