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What Does a Miscarriage Look Like? Bleeding, Duration, and More

A miscarriage is a spontaneous pregnancy loss before 20 weeks of gestation. Some 8 to 20 percent known pregnancies end in miscarriage, with the majority happening before the 12th week.

The signs and symptoms of miscarriage vary from person to person. Symptoms may also vary depending on how far along you are. For example, a fetus at 14 weeks will be much larger than a fetus at 5 weeks of gestation, so there may be more bleeding and tissue loss with a later miscarriage.

Miscarriage symptoms may include:

• spotting or bleeding from the vagina
• abdominal cramping or pain in the lower back
• passage of tissue, fluid, or other products from the vagina

Read on to learn more about identifying a miscarriage and what to do if you suspect you’re experiencing one.

Bleeding may start as light spotting, or it could be heavier and appear as a gush of blood. As the cervix dilates to empty, the bleeding becomes heavier.

The heaviest bleeding is generally over within three to five hours from the time heavy bleeding begins. Lighter bleeding may stop and start over one to two weeks before it completely ends.

The color of the blood can range from pink to red to brown. Red blood is fresh blood that leaves the body quickly. Brown blood, on the other hand, is blood that’s been in the uterus a while. You may see discharge the color of coffee grounds, or near black, during a miscarriage.

Exactly how much bleeding you’ll experience depends on a variety of circumstances, including how far along you are and whether or not your miscarriage is progressing naturally.

While you may see a lot of blood, let your doctor know if you fill more than two sanitary pads an hour for two or more hours in a row.

What does a missed miscarriage look like?

You may not experience bleeding or other symptoms with a miscarriage, at least at first.

A missed miscarriage, also referred to as a missed abortion, happens when the fetus has died but the products of conception remain in the uterus. This type of miscarriage is usually diagnosed via ultrasound.

Just as with the amount of blood you’ll see, the duration of a miscarriage will vary from person to person and even from pregnancy to pregnancy.

In many cases, a miscarriage will take around two weeks to pass naturally. Your doctor may prescribe the medication misoprostol (Cytotec) to help a miscarriage pass more quickly. Bleeding may start within two days of beginning the medication. For others, it may take up to two weeks.

Once the miscarriage has started, the tissue and heaviest bleeding should be passed in about three to five hours. After the fetus has passed, you may still experience spotting and mild tissue loss for one to two weeks.

It may be difficult to tell a very early miscarriage from a late period. In fact, many miscarriages happen before a person even knows they’re pregnant.

In general, a miscarriage will cause more intense symptoms than a menstrual period. For example:

• Your menstrual flow may be relatively similar from month to month with heavy days and light days. A miscarriage can also have heavy and light days, but bleeding may be especially heavy at times and last longer than you’re used to.
• Bleeding from a miscarriage may also contain large clots and tissue you don’t normally see during your period.
• Cramps can be a part of your normal monthly cycle, but with a miscarriage, they may be particularly painful as the cervix dilates.
• The color of blood during your period can range from pink to red to brown. If you see a color you’re not used to seeing, it may be a sign of miscarriage.

Always contact your doctor if you’re pregnant and experience bleeding. While a miscarriage can’t be stopped once it starts, you doctor can run tests to help determine if you’re experiencing the loss of your pregnancy or something else.

To diagnose a miscarriage, your doctor will likely perform an ultrasound to look for the baby’s heartbeat, if you’re far enough along to see a heartbeat. Your doctor may also order a blood test to check human chorionic gonadotropin (hcG) levels to see if they’re rising or falling.

If a miscarriage is confirmed, your doctor may suggest “expectant management” or waiting for the miscarriage to pass naturally. This generally happens within two weeks.

Incomplete miscarriage

The miscarriage may be incomplete if:

• your bleeding is particularly heavy
• you have a fever
• an ultrasound reveals there’s still tissue in your uterus

If this is the case, your doctor may suggest a dilation and curettage (D and C), which is a surgical procedure done to remove remaining tissue. The procedure is done under general or regional anesthesia, and is considered safe. D and C doesn’t usually lead to long-term complications.

Threatened miscarriage

It’s important to report any bleeding or pain you experience in your pregnancy to your doctor. In some cases, you may have what’s called a threatened miscarriage, and there may be certain treatments that can help. These include:

• hormone supplements if the bleeding is caused by low progesterone
• a cerclage (stitch in the cervix) if the issue is with the cervix opening prematurely

Speak with your healthcare provider if you’re looking to get pregnant again after a miscarriage. While it may be safe to start trying after your first normal period, you may want to schedule a checkup depending on the cause or the number of miscarriages you’ve had.

The reason for loss isn’t always known, but around half of miscarriages are caused by issues with the baby’s chromosomes.

Other possible causes include:

• uterine issues
• hormonal imbalances
• other health conditions, such as diabetes, autoimmune disorders, or polycystic ovary syndrome

After a miscarriage, you may have hcG in your blood for one to two months, which could lead to a false positive pregnancy test. In most cases, your period will return within four to six weeks, though you may start ovulating almost immediately following a miscarriage.

Speak with your doctor about birth control options if you don’t wish to become pregnant after a miscarriage.

Will I miscarry again?

Having one miscarriage doesn’t necessarily increases your chances of having another. The risk remains around 20 percent.

Two or more miscarriages is referred to as recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). The risk of miscarriage after two losses is 28 percent. After three consecutive losses, it increases to 43 percent.

Only 1 percent of people experience three or more miscarriages. About 65 percent of those with unexplained RPL go on to have successful pregnancies.

Activities like exercise, work, morning sickness, and sex don’t cause miscarriages. Even things like smoking or drinking alcohol or caffeine, which can lead to other complications, are also unlikely to lead to early pregnancy loss.

A miscarriage can be physically painful, and it may also cause a variety of emotions. While your body may recover in a few weeks, be sure to take time to process your feelings, grieve, and reach out for help when you need it.

Early miscarriage - symptoms and how to prevent it

The term "early miscarriage" refers to a spontaneous abortion that occurs in the first 6-8 weeks of pregnancy. It can occur before 20 weeks of pregnancy for reasons related to the natural states of the fair sex. According to statistics, the logical outcome of every fifth pregnancy is a miscarriage. However, quite often a woman does not even know that she was pregnant by the time the fetus is rejected by the body.

In addition, a curious pattern was revealed: more often than a natural one, a pregnancy induced artificially ends in a miscarriage. For example, in vitro fertilization, unfortunately, does not always lead to a successful pregnancy and the birth of a baby on time.

Why can an early miscarriage occur?

Here are the most common causes, each of which significantly increases the risk of miscarriage:

• the expectant mother has certain infectious diseases, as well as STDs;
• intoxication of a woman's body for various reasons, including as a result of her living in an ecologically unfavorable region;
• all kinds of metabolic disorders in the body;
• hormonal disruptions, including those caused by a malfunction of the thyroid gland;
• various neoplasms in the uterus and others, as well as the cervix, pathologies;
• maintenance by the future mother of a life far from a healthy lifestyle. May include drinking alcohol, smoking, taking psychotropic and narcotic drugs, as well as malnutrition;
• obesity;
• immune status disorders;
• cardiac diseases;
• diabetes mellitus;
• too early for pregnancy or, conversely, the patient's overly mature age at times increases the risk of miscarriage;
• all kinds of pathologies of chromosomes and genes;
• prolonged exposure to stress or severe psycho-emotional trauma in a woman.

The timing of a miscarriage may depend, among other things, on the patient's genetic predisposition to miscarriage. Finally, often its specific cause remains unexplained to the end.

Symptoms of miscarriage

A pregnant woman should urgently seek medical help if she has the following warning signs:

• bleeding from the vagina;
• spotting discharge from the genital tract. They can have both light pink and intense red or brownish tint;
• convulsions;
• severe pain in the lumbar region;
• abdominal pain, etc.

All of the above signs can be symptoms of a miscarriage. Timely provision of qualified medical care is the key to maintaining pregnancy.

Life after miscarriage

If a woman could not bear the pregnancy - an early miscarriage crossed out all her plans - then she needs to calm down and take all measures to prevent such complications in the future. Usually obstetricians-gynecologists recommend planning a new pregnancy no earlier than six months after a miscarriage. During this time, a woman needs to be examined and find out if she has any pathology in her body that could lead to an abortion. It can be various STDs and infectious diseases. In the presence of chronic diseases that can provoke spontaneous abortion, it is necessary to throw all your efforts into their treatment.

Gynecologists of the corresponding department of our private clinic in Ryazan will help you find out what could have caused the miscarriage, as well as make recommendations on how to prepare for pregnancy. They usually include a set of physical exercises suitable for a woman, a diet rich in everything necessary for bearing a healthy baby, no stress, and measures to maintain a normal body mass index. Can't recover or get pregnant after a miscarriage? Contact "ON CLINIC in Ryazan" - here you will definitely be helped!

Causes and symptoms of miscarriage in the early stages of pregnancy

A woman is especially anxious about the news of her own pregnancy. A new life begins to develop inside it, which will soon be born and become the main reason for its existence for the coming years. However, an early miscarriage is able to cross out unrealizable dreams and postpone a successful birth for an indefinite period. When the expulsion of the fetus occurs before 12 weeks of its development in the womb, every fifth woman does not yet know about the upcoming motherhood. This does not make the process of loss any less emotionally and physically painful. But after learning about a failed pregnancy and turning to a doctor, a woman can determine causes of miscarriage to prevent a similar situation in the future.

Early miscarriage - how does the anomaly proceed

What does science define by the term "miscarriage"? From the point of view of gynecology, this is the process of spontaneous termination of pregnancy up to 22 weeks, when the weight parameters of the embryo do not exceed 0.5 kg. If a baby developing in the womb weighs 500 grams, then doctors can save him and give a premature baby the opportunity for a happy life. If the weight is less than this indicator, then the struggle for the life of the born baby is meaningless. As mentioned above, early miscarriage is often not felt by a woman. All she notices is a slight delay in the menstrual cycle and increased bleeding during the onset of menstruation, accompanied by severe pain.

Discomfort and painful symptoms can be soothed by taking painkillers and nettle infusion. However, in some cases they are powerless, so going to the doctor is the only right decision in this situation. Analyzing causes of miscarriage , you will surely remember how a copious blood clot came out of you along with menstruation. It was he who became the main symptom of spontaneous expulsion of the fetus by the body.

When a clot breaks, it is important to see a doctor immediately. After the examination, the specialist will tell you if there are any remains of the fetus inside you. In this case, early miscarriage requires cleaning of the uterus to remove traces of embryonic decay from it and prevent subsequent infection.

In case of a miscarriage before 12 weeks, the woman's body seems to give a signal that it is not ready for a full-fledged pregnancy. Or that the parents have health problems that need to be addressed. Consult a doctor to find out the causes of the pathology. The specialist will conduct an examination, prescribe a set of preventive, therapeutic and supportive procedures, after which it will be possible to start talking about pregnancy and childbirth again.

Such different causes of miscarriage – let's get acquainted with provocateurs

Among the most common causes of miscarriage, problems of various etiologies can be noted. Among them:

• Genetic failures - in the presence of a mutating element in the parental chromosomes, the fetus is expelled from the uterus as incapacitated and contrary to the principles of natural selection of the organism. Various factors can influence the manifestation and development of pathology, it is not always possible to determine them exactly.
• Hormonal imbalance - the cause of miscarriage may be insufficient production of the hormone progesterone, or the predominance of male hormones in the female body. At the stage of preparation for pregnancy, such an anomaly is easily eliminated by the use of hormone therapy. Such measures help to avoid spontaneous abortion at an early stage.
• Rh-conflict of parents - with a negative Rh factor of the mother's blood, the same indicator of the father plays a very important role. With opposite values ​​ early miscarriage is quite possible. If the fetus has a positive Rh factor, then the mother's body seeks to get rid of the foreign body, trying to expel the embryo by any available means. With early diagnosis of an anomaly, the doctor uses progesterone to protect the fetus, which prevents the expulsion of the fetus. If both parents are negative for the Rh factor, then the conflict can be avoided.
• Infectious diseases are a negative factor that can cause harm to the fetus and the body of the expectant mother of various strengths. In the case of genital infections, it is better to get rid of them before the moment of conception, otherwise infection of the embryo is inevitable. It could become cause of miscarriage early pregnancy . Inflammatory processes in the body of a woman are also taken into account. An increase in temperature in response to the harmful effects of the disease is often accompanied by a general intoxication of the body. This takes away the strength of the fetus, so the body easily gives up the embryo without keeping it in the uterus.
• Abortion is a rather complicated operation in terms of the strength of the subsequent impact on the female body. Unprofessional disposal of the fetus can become the cause of miscarriage in the future, and also lead the woman to a complete loss of reproductive function. It is impossible to correct the situation, therefore, doctors, as a rule, communicate for a long time with a woman who has decided to have an abortion in order to convince her to carry out her plans.
• Medicines and medicines - the first trimester of pregnancy is famous for the fact that during this period it is strictly forbidden to take any medicines and drugs. Since vital organs are laid in the embryo, the funds can provoke an anomaly in the development of the child. Also during pregnancy, herbs are prohibited: nettle, tansy, St. John's wort, parsley. Their intake can cause miscarriage and loss of the embryo by the mother's body.
• Mechanical injuries - during pregnancy it is very important to protect yourself from serious physical exertion and possible mechanical damage. From the first days, fitness and other types of physical activity in non-specialized groups are prohibited. In order not to provoke an early miscarriage , it is better to enroll in specialized sports groups for pregnant women, where the load is accurately calculated and only exercises that are harmless to the health of the mother and child are used. You can not lift weights, overexert yourself, be subjected to falls, bumps and unsuccessful loads. Even if the mother is full of health and strength, during pregnancy it is better to beware of careless actions.
• Other factors - unfavorable environment, harmful working conditions, unbalanced diet.

There are also causes of miscarriage based on stress, depression, nervous mood of the future mother. Even at the stage of pregnancy planning, parents should change the usual rhythm of life in order to exclude all negative factors from it. This truth is especially true for women. In order not to provoke an early miscarriage , she must get rid of bad habits, addiction to coffee, alcohol, smoking. She needs to rest more, get enough sleep, eat right and rationally, walk more and breathe fresh air.

Symptoms of a miscarriage - how to determine the termination of pregnancy

The most pronounced signs of spontaneous abortion are pain in the lower abdomen and in the lumbar region, as well as bleeding. Pain symptoms are often spasmodic in nature. They arise suddenly, slowly step aside and after a certain period they roll again. Bloody discharge from the vagina or unstoppable bleeding requires the immediate call of an ambulance team. When observing such signs, there is a high probability of miscarriage in the early stages , so the hospitalization of the expectant mother in such conditions is necessary.

If we compare abundant bleeding and spotting manifestations, then the latter give more chances for the preservation of the fetus. However, it is not worth delaying the call of the doctor in both cases. The consequences can be very serious. If abundant blood flow is accompanied by the presence of clots and pieces of mucous in the fluid, then this indicates a miscarriage that has already occurred.

Often a possible harbinger of termination of pregnancy is a diagnosis made by an obstetrician-gynecologist, indicating a high tone of the uterus. So that the cause of miscarriage does not provoke it, the future woman in labor is advised to remain calm, not to be nervous, not to overwork.

In general, the presence of many of the symptoms listed above is not a panacea for abortion. With timely treatment of a woman to a doctor, further gestation is possible. The only thing that will have to be faced in this case is the careful care of the attending staff of the gynecological consultation.

Treatment of early miscarriage

Bed rest is the main rule for the normal course of pregnancy when there are threats to it. The doctor, excluding any causes of miscarriage , recommends that the future woman in labor lead a measured and calm lifestyle, take care of herself and her own nerves, eat well and give herself little joys, raising her spirits and tuning in to positive. If the threat of losing the child is strong, then the specialist may completely prohibit getting out of bed once again. In this case, ideal conditions can only be achieved in a hospital, which is why pregnant women with a burdened history are often placed in the prenatal ward for preservation.

Psychologists say that the psycho-emotional background of the expectant mother plays one of the leading roles in the process of preparing for childbirth. In order not to provoke a miscarriage at an early stage and at a later period, a woman needs to think about the good and pleasant. It is useful to read your favorite books, listen to soothing music, breathe measuredly and calmly. To prevent you from having the slightest chance of being upset, your doctor may prescribe valerian or motherwort. For pregnant women, they are absolutely harmless. Expectant mothers are encouraged to think positive. About how the baby will be born, what name the parents will give him, how beautiful and strong he will become as he grows up.

If the causes of miscarriage are more significant, the doctor may prescribe hormonal agents that normalize the general background of pregnancy. Medications with a high content of progesterone, anti-hyperandrogenism drugs and reducing the risk of Rhesus conflict pills may be prescribed. If the threat of miscarriage is high, then cervical closure may be used. The sutures are applied under anesthesia, so the procedure is not painful.

Some women have to be under the strict supervision of specialists for the entire period of pregnancy. It happens when possible early miscarriage and later. At the same time, the future woman in labor can be placed in the hospital once, and can also be there on a permanent basis. The reward for strict adherence to the doctor's recommendations is a full-fledged process of pregnancy development and childbirth in due time. A healthy baby who was born can more than compensate for all the inconvenience and discomfort experienced by the parents.

In order to prevent miscarriage, it is recommended that both parents take a balanced approach to the decision to become pregnant. It is necessary to prepare for conception in advance, undergo all the necessary examinations, take the recommended tests. This will eliminate the maximum causes of miscarriage and reduce the risk of developing a negative scenario during pregnancy. At least six months before the date of the intended conception, it is necessary to change the usual way of life of the parents. It is necessary to eliminate bad habits, give up alcohol, smoking, and the use of harmful products.

What are the possible consequences of an early miscarriage

If a miscarriage occurs early in the course of pregnancy, then serious consequences are extremely rare. They can be caused by self-termination of pregnancy with the help of drugs and artisanal traditional medicine recipes. An urgent consultation with a gynecologist is necessary when a blood clot comes out of the vagina, indicating a miscarriage.

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