Women’s Health & Clotting Awareness Across a Lifetime
Blood clot awareness matters across many stages of women’s health, from family planning and birth control to pregnancy, childbirth, menopause care, and beyond.
Women make important health decisions across every stage of life. Some of those decisions may involve clotting risk, including choices related to birth control, pregnancy and childbirth, and certain forms of hormone therapy used during menopause care.
The Rowan Foundation is committed to helping women better understand these risks, recognize possible signs and symptoms of blood clots, and have more informed conversations with their healthcare providers.
Every year, nearly one million people in the United States experience a blood clot, and serious clots can include deep vein thrombosis (DVT or a blood clot in the leg or arm), and pulmonary embolism (PE or a blood clot in the lung. Awareness of blood clot risk factors and signs and symptoms can help women know when to ask questions and when to seek care.
Women’s health decisions happen across a lifetime. The Rowan Foundation’s expanding resource portal brings together information about birth control, pregnancy, childbirth, menopause care, clotting risk factors, and blood clot awareness to inform, empower, and support more thoughtful conversations and care.
Blood Clot Awareness Across Women’s Health Life Stages
Blood clot risk is not limited to one age, one diagnosis, or one healthcare decision. For women, clotting awareness may be especially important during times of hormonal change, pregnancy-related care, surgery, immobility, or when personal or family risk factors are present.
Hormonal changes and hormone-related healthcare decisions can affect clotting risk at different stages of life. Estrogen-containing birth control, pregnancy and childbirth, and some forms of menopause hormone therapy may each raise important questions to discuss with a healthcare provider.
Some forms of hormonal birth control contain estrogen, including certain pills, the patch, and the ring. Estrogen-containing contraception may increase blood clot risk, especially when other risk factors are present.
Women deserve clear, balanced information about their options. Understanding personal risk factors, family history, medical history, and available hormonal and nonhormonal methods can support safer, more informed contraceptive decision-making.
Pregnancy and the weeks after childbirth are important times for clotting awareness. During pregnancy, the body naturally changes in ways that help reduce bleeding during labor and delivery, but these changes can also make blood more likely to clot.
Personal risk factors, cesarean delivery, bed rest, and certain inherited clotting disorders may further increase risk. Women who are planning a pregnancy, pregnant, or postpartum should talk with their healthcare provider about their individual clotting risk.
Some women use hormone therapy to manage menopause symptoms.
For certain women, some forms of systemic hormone therapy, particularly oral estrogen, may increase blood clot risk.
Menopause care should be individualized. Women should feel comfortable asking about their personal risk factors, the type and route of hormone therapy being considered, and whether nonhormonal options may be appropriate.
Other Blood Clot Risk Factors
Blood clot risk can be influenced by more than one factor. During any stage of women’s health, additional risks may include:
Because risk factors can add up, women should talk with their healthcare provider about their full health history before making decisions about contraception, pregnancy care, surgery, or hormone therapy.
Speak to your healthcare provider about all of your risks for blood clots.
Blood Clot Signs and Symptoms
Blood clot symptoms can vary, and some people may have few symptoms or no symptoms before a serious event. The symptoms below are among the more common signs associated with blood clots.
Possible signs of a blood clot in your leg or arm may include:
Contact your healthcare provider if you experience any of these symptoms.
Possible signs of a blood clot in your lung may include:
Seek immediate medical care or call 911 if you have any of these symptoms.
Explore Rowan Foundation Resources
For more than a decade, the Rowan Foundation has developed women-centered clotting education resources that can help fill important awareness gaps and support informed health conversations.
Our consistently expanding Resource Library reflects a broad spectrum of multifaceted education and awareness tools, including the key resources highlighted below:
Information, Informed Choice, Improved Care
Blood clot awareness should be part of broader conversations about women’s health, especially when decisions involve hormonal contraception, pregnancy and childbirth, and menopause care.
The Rowan Foundation invites patients, healthcare leaders, advocates, and communities to join us in raising the standard for women’s health and clotting education.
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