What is a miscarriage?
The definition of miscarriage is a pregnancy that ends before 16 weeks spontaneously. A miscarriage is also called spontaneous abortion. About 10% of the pregnancies ends with a miscarriage.
Development miscarriage
A miscarriage announces itself in most cases by bleedings combined with abdominal pains. This pains feel like (heavy) menstrual cramps. In most cases you notice that pain and bleeding increase, that they are heavy for several hours and that they decrease again. You can also lose clots or the embryo (completely or in parts). The embryo doesn’t need to be recognizable.
When the pain and bleeding become less heavy, you can still notice bleeding for a few weeks after the miscarriage.
Reasons

In most cases there is no clear reason why a pregnancy ends. Probably there is a predisposition disorder of the embryo. If you have had 2 or more miscarriages you can conduct research to try to find the cause. Your midwife can inform you about this.


What you have to do when you are bleeding
Vaginal bleeding occurs sometimes in the beginning of pregnancy. In half of the cases this is innocent. If you are bleeding while pregnant, always contact your midwife. She’ll discuss your options with you. Sometimes an ultrasound can clarify things.
Call your midwife when you notice:
  • Heavy bleeding, more than with your menstruation
  • A body temperature of 38 degrees or more
  • Heavy pain
  • Bleeding for more than 2 weeks
  • Insecurity
Treatment:
Wait
In most cases your body will reject the embryo, in most case within a week after the miscarriage was noticed on the ultrasound, but it can take a little longer. Discuss with your midwife how long you want to wait. The advantage of waiting is that you don’t need a medical treatment as pills or an operation, and your body does it.
Medical treatment
If the embryo doesn’t come without help, you can get a medical treatment from a gynaecologist. This helps the embryo to be born.
Curettage
This is an operation. The uterus gets cleaned with Dit is een medische behandeling in het ziekenhuis waarbij de baarmoeder schoongemaakt wordt onder plaatselijke verdoving of algehele narcose.
Pijnstilling
Sometimes the pain can be very heavy. In most cases it doesn’t take long before the pain decreases. You can take paracetamol as an angesia. The maximum is 6 tablets of 500 mg per day. If you have too much pain, even when you take paracetamol, you can always contact your midwife.
And after that?
After a miscarriage you can have a hard time. Sadness, feeling guilty, anger and feeling empty are emotions that are very common after a miscarriage. It helps to talk with your partner, family, friends and/or midwife. Everybody deals with miscarriage in their own way. If you have or get problems with this, you can always contact your midwife.
You can also contact:
Ruth Evers, she is besides midwife also coach and hypnotherapist. She helps (pregnant) women by coaching sessions.
Maybe one of these website can support you as well:
When can I get pregnant again?
There are no rules about the time you have to take before you want to get pregnant again. We advice you to wait with sexual intercourse until the bleeding has stopped. Your menstruation will come in most cases between 4-6 weeks after the miscarriage.
There is no medical reason to wait with trying to get pregnant. The most important thing to worry about is if you are emotionally ready. It is very understandable that you can be extra worried if you are pregnant again. Discuss your worries with your midwife.
Don’t forget to start with folic acid if you want to become pregnant again.
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