Types of miscarriage

There are a number of different ways an expectant mother can miscarry and while your doctor may explain it to you, when suffering from intense grief, you and your partner may not be able to absorb what you are being told.

The following explanations will hopefully help those suffering to understand their situation:

Complete miscarriage

A complete miscarriage occurs either before 6th-8th week of pregnancy or after 14th-16th week. The woman will need to go into hospital, where their doctor will perform an ultrasound scan to confirm that no further tissues remain. If tissue remains, a woman will need to undergo an ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) or D&C (dilation and curettage).

Threatened miscarriage

This usually happens when the expectant mother experiences bleeding and cramping during pregnancy, but doesn’t miscarry and carries the baby to full term.

An inevitable miscarriage

Bleeding, pain and nausea are common symptoms of this type of miscarriage. If your body has been threatening to miscarry, it most likely will and once the neck of the womb starts to dilate, it is unlikely that the pregnancy will continue. The woman may also notice that they pass large pieces of tissue.

Incomplete miscarriage

If your body fails to remove all the tissue during a miscarriage, this is called an incomplete miscarriage, and requires the woman to undergo an ERCP procedure.

Missed miscarriage

This is when the embryo fails to develop, but instead of being passed out of the womb, it remains inside. There may be no symptoms with this type of miscarriage, although the more obvious signs of pregnancy, such as tender breasts, may suddenly stop as the womb starts to get smaller. A dark brown vaginal discharge may occur and the woman will have to undergo an ultrasound examination.

In this instance, the woman may wait for nature to take its course and will eventually suffer a miscarriage or they may choose to have an ERPC carried out.

Ectopic pregnancy

This is when fertilisation occurs outside the womb, meaning the pregnancy is not be viable. It can also be life-threatening to the mother and is usually only discovered after experiencing heavy bleeding. A laparotomy is usually necessary to remove the ectopic pregnancy.

Regardless of how you may have miscarried or at what week it occurred, each mother and father will experience different feelings of grief and should seek help if they are struggling to cope.