Miscarriage

Unfortunately, not every pregnancy goes well. If something goes wrong in the early development, the pregnancy can end in a miscarriage. We speak of a miscarriage when a pregnancy is less than 16 weeks old. This occurs in about 10% of all pregnancies. As you get older, the risk of miscarriage increases.

You cannot cause a miscarriage yourself by, for example, heavy lifting or sexual intercourse.

Vaginal bleeding and/or abdominal pain are usually the first signs of a miscarriage. A pregnancy in which blood loss or abdominal pain occurs will not always end in a miscarriage.

Unfortunately, it can also happen that your body does not yet show any signs of a miscarriage and that an ultrasound shows that there is an intact pregnancy. We call this a missed miscarriage. Your body has not yet picked up on that something was wrong with the pregnancy.

A miscarriage is different for every woman, but in general you can assume that it is accompanied by (sometimes) severe abdominal pain and blood loss. Especially when you lose the amniotic sac, you often have severe abdominal pain and blood loss. It is normal for this blood loss to be more than a normal menstrual period.

When the abdominal pain and blood loss decrease after the loss of the amniotic sac, it is very likely that the miscarriage has been reversed. You speak of a complete miscarriage. To be sure, we make another ultrasound to check this.

However, it can also happen that tissue remains in the uterus, in which case you speak of an incomplete miscarriage. It may be necessary to refer you to a gynaecologist for various reasons, such as an incomplete miscarriage or failure to miscarry. Inducing the miscarriage with medication (misoprostol) or a curettage may be indicated. Misoprostol are vaginal tablets that can induce a miscarriage if it does not come off spontaneously. A curettage is done in the operating room under a light anaesthetic. Even if it is preferable to wait until the miscarriage occurs spontaneously, it is possible to schedule an appointment with the gynaecologist to discuss the various options.

If there is a miscarriage and you suffer from one of the following points, please call us immediately:

Physical recovery after a spontaneous miscarriage (or curettage) is usually smooth.

A miscarriage usually comes very unexpectedly and the grief can be great. Processing will be different for everyone, and the duration may also differ per person. In addition to feelings of sadness, other feelings can exist such as guilt, disbelief, anger, a feeling of emptiness, failure of one's own body or jealousy towards other pregnant women. For help in coping with a miscarriage, you can always contact us.

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