Pregnancy info: Have you heard of a silent or missed miscarriage?

Many of us know that when you have a miscarriage, the first danger sign would be bleeding. Thought there are some cases where some pregnant women find themselves bleeding but they luckily do not loose their pregnancy. When I was growing up some years back I remember hearing some people saying that ‘she kept seeing her periods for months only to find out that she was 5 months pregnant’  there must be some scientific explanation to this or probably they were just cooking up stories. I know about seeing spots, but bleeding that is something serious.

I have heard of a missed miscarriage through a friend and until when I read about it that is when I understood what it really meant. At first I thought they meant that there was suppose to be a miscarriage but the pregnancy was safe. I was wrong and so I thought there could be other people out there who would need to know about this. If you are, or you know some pregnant women who would go for months without check up it is time to convince them to go find out how their little ones are doing in there because a missed or silent miscarriage may not show you an obvious sign.

After bleeding and cramping, many women heave a sigh of relief when the doctor tells them they’ve had a “missed miscarriage”. While the words may mean that the woman has missed the miscarriage, it actually has a very different definition.

A missed miscarriage is when the fetus in a woman’s womb dies, but the pregnancy continues. In short, unlike the classic miscarriage (wherein a woman bleeds and passes tissues and clots), this type of spontaneous abortion does not cause the fetus to be expelled from the mother’s body. Not knowing she has miscarried can cause more complications once the fetus is left dead in the uterus. Unfortunately, some women are not aware at all until ultrasound and Doppler exams have been performed by her doctor to reveal a non-moving, non-breathing fetus. This type of miscarriage is also called “silent pregnancy” or “missed abortion”. Most cases occur within the first trimester, or twelve weeks of pregnancy. If this type of miscarriage occurs past the first trimester, it is given the name late missed miscarriage.

A woman may experience a sudden decrease in her typical pregnancy signs. For instance, she may not feel nauseous anymore, or her breasts may feel less sore. A missed miscarriage is different because brownish vaginal discharge precedes the bright red bleeding. Tests such as a Doppler exam (to listen for heartbeat) and an ultrasound (to view the baby) are done routinely during prenatal checkups, and this may be the only time a woman finds out she has silently miscarried.

Once the diagnosis has been made, the mother is immediately scheduled for an emergency D&C (dilatation and curettage). The doctor dilates the cervix and with the use of a surgical instrument that’s shaped like a spoon, scrapes the contents of the uterus to empty it. This is crucial in order to prevent infection that may lead to sepsis, or worse, death of the mother. After the treatment, a woman must be given psychological support for her loss.

Source; http://www.pregnancywizard.com