Key Facts To Understand And Cope With A Miscarriage

Types Of Miscarriage

There are several types of miscarriage women can experience. A threatened miscarriage is characterized by bleeding that is accompanied by cramping or low back pain. This bleeding is usually the result of implantation. When an inevitable or incomplete miscarriage takes place, there is abdominal or back pain along with bleeding and an open cervix. This is a result of dilation or effacement of the cervix. A complete miscarriage is when the embryo has been expelled from the uterus. In this case, bleeding and cramping subside quickly. A missed miscarriage is when there is an embryonic death without expulsion of the embryo. Signs of this type of miscarriage include the absence of pregnancy symptoms and no fetal heartbeat on an ultrasound. A recurrent miscarriage is characterized by three or more consecutive first-trimester miscarriages, which affects about one percent of couples.

Diagnosis

If a woman begins to experience signs of a miscarriage, it is important to seek immediate medical attention to get a proper diagnosis. Doctors will ask when the bleeding started, how heavy it is, and whether or not there has been cramping. If there are pregnancy symptoms still present, such as nausea, let the doctor know. The presence of these symptoms could indicate a molar pregnancy, which may require a procedure to remove the abnormal tissue from the uterus. It is also important to report abdominal and pelvic pain, which could indicate an ectopic pregnancy. This condition occurs when the fertilized egg grows outside of the uterus. Note that these conditions are rare: only one in fifteen hundred pregnancies result in molar pregnancies and only one to two percent are ectopic pregnancies.