Mum opens up about terrifying health scare during pregnancy caused by dehydration

Pregnancy can be a daunting time for any expectant mother and everyone has fears they'll experience health complications.

Speaking to as many people about their experiences as possible is a great way to put any concerns at bay and can be an important learning experience too.

Ali Fedotowsky, who became known for being on the American reality show Bachelorette, is currently pregnant with her second child with husband Kevin Manno and is due in May.

Although Ali has already given birth to her daughter Molly, who's now one, she wanted to share her terrifying experience during her second pregnancy to help other mums-to-be.

Ali opened up about her health scare

Writing on her blog, Ali described how she had been experiencing 'sharp pain in her uterus' at 26 weeks pregnant. At first she dismissed it as gas pain but when it lasted for a whole evening, she knew something was up.

Ali tried walking and running a bath in an attempt to relax her and allow the wind to pass.

She went on: 'As I was in the tub the pain just kept on getting sharper and worse. I've had a baby before and the pain is intense, distinct, and unmistakable when it's severe. I was without a doubt having contractions and I was absolutely terrified.'

Just like many other expectant mums, Ali panicked and thought she was going into an early labour.

The sharp pain persisted and occurred every time she went to the bathroom. As a precaution she got in the car to go to the hospital but when the pains stopped she decided to go back home.

When Ali visited her doctor the next day she was told it was all down to dehydration.

She wrote: 'I talked to my doctor first thing the next morning and she told me the contractions were most likely from severe dehydration and possibly the pain was made worse from a little gas.'

Ali continued: 'It's embarrassing for me to even say that because the pain I was experiencing was so awful that it seems insane for me that gas could do something like that. But the majority of it I think came from dehydration.'

After sharing her story on her blog, Ali took to Instagram to explain that she did it to raise awareness on the dangers of not drinking enough water.

'I wanted to share my story in a deeper way in hopes that it will help someone out there reading it. If I had realized the severity of not drinking enough water during pregnancy I think maybe I could've prevented the scare from happening and I want to help prevent it from happening to others', she wrote.

Anyone can suffer from dehydration but it's understandably a little more scary when you're carrying a baby.

It's recommended that you drink six to eight glasses of fluid a day, with water, milk, tea and coffee all counting towards this - but water is the best for hydration.

Expectant mothers require more water than the average person as it plays such an important role in the baby's growth.