Intestinal obstruction is a rare complication of pregnancy, occurring in 1: 1,500 - 1: 66,431 pregnancies, but is associated with significant maternal and fetal morbidity and rarely mortality. It is mostly the result of the same causes and demands the same surgi-cal attention that is given to the nonpregnant person, most commonly in the third trimester of pregnancy. Adhesions are the commonest cause of small bowel obstruction, while large bowel obstruction can be caused by tumors, diverticular disease and volvulus. Abdominal pain in pregnancy presents a unique diagnostic challenge, because enlarging gravid uterus complicates physical examination. Furthermore, the delay in diagnosis is due to nonspecific symptoms and clinicians are reluctant to use a test such as computed tomography because of radiation risk to a fetus. Also, it is more difficult to per-form intestinal operations in the presence of an enlarged, gravid uterus and may be encountered more frequently in the future. The most important things to remember are clinical suspicion of the presence of obstruction and aggressive intervention which are required to decrease the morbidity and mortality of this rare complication of pregnancy.