Dealing with Blood Clots

Anyone can get a blood clot, but women are at higher risk for a blood clot during pregnancy, childbirth and up to three months after delivering a baby.

Pregnant women are five times more likely to experience a blood clot, compared with women who are not pregnant, according to a new study. Hormones can also increase a woman's risk of developing a blood clot, like being on birth control.

Vincent J. Noori, M.D., RPVI, a board certified vascular surgeon at The Vascular Center at Mercy Medical Center, explained the symptoms that women need to watch for.

"If someone develops sudden, abrupt onset swelling in a single extremity, a lot of pain that's not getting better with time, or sudden shortness of breath and chest pain, that can suggest a possible pulmonary embolism or some of the clot traveling to the lungs," Dr. Noori said.

Although people can have a genetic condition that increases their risk for a blood clot, Dr. Noori said some other risk factors include weight, smoking, diabetes or prior traumas or surgeries.

View Mercy vascular surgeon Dr. Vincent Noori's interview regarding blood clots.