Signs in Obstetrics

·         Hartman's sign: Some women experience several days' spotting as the blastocyst implants into the endometrium. Because this "light period" typically occurs 1 week after ovulation and fertilization (i.e., 3-3.5 weeks after last menses), it is sometimes mistakenly used for calculation of gestational age.

·         Chadwick's sign—Congestion of the pelvic vasculature causes bluish or purplish discoloration of the vagina and cervix.

·         Goodell's sign—Cyanosis and softening of the cervix is due to increased vascularity of the cervical tissue. This change may occur as early as 4 weeks.

·         Ladin's sign—At 6 weeks, the uterus softens in the anterior midline along the uterocervical junction

·         Hegar's sign—This is widening of the softened area of the isthmus, resulting in compressibility of the isthmus on bimanual examination. This occurs by 6–8 weeks.

·         McDonald's sign—The uterus becomes flexible at the uterocervical junction at 7–8 weeks.

·          Von Fernwald's sign—An irregular softening of the fundus develops over the site of implantation at 4–5 weeks. If this occurs in the cornual area (Piskacek's sign), it may be confused with a uterine leiomyoma or abnormal uterine development. By 10 weeks, the uterus becomes symmetrical and doubles its nonpregnant size.

·         Painless uterine contractions (Braxton Hicks contractions) are felt as tightening or pressure. They usually begin at about 28 weeks' gestation and increase in regularity. These contractions usually disappear with walking or exercise, whereas true labor contractions become more intense.

·         fetal death, including overlapping skull bones (Spalding's sign), gas in the great vessels (Robert's sign)

 
·         The "banana" and "lemon" signs are two sonographic signs of the Arnold-Chiari malformation seen in spina bifida. Classic lemon sign; that is, there is a frontal bosselation of the forehead such that the sides of the forehead are actually pulled in. This is because of the pull on the cisterna magna from spina bifida that is distorting the intracranial contents. This so-called lemon sign has a very high degree of sensitivity, although it is not perfect. The lemon sign disappears in the third trimester and is therefore not useful late in pregnancy.