ADVICE RATING |
 4.96 (Highly recommend) from 17 votes (2270 Visits) |
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Misoprostol Therapy |
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Anonymous Author (March 2007) |
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I had recently a miscarriage that was quite a shock:
In the 10th week of pregnancy, my husband and I went to the obstetrician for the first ultrasound where we discovered that the baby had died in the seventh week.
Before the diagnosis, nothing indicated a miscarriage
as I had no bleeding or any other symptoms. So it was quite a surprise as I had not read anywhere that the dead foetus could remain inside my own body, a so called ‘missed miscarriage’.
The obstetrician gave me three options:
1. to wait until the dead foetus gets transferred out by itself,
2. misoprostol therapy, or
3. to have an operation to vacuum out the dead foetus (Dilatation and curettage or D&C)
I decided to go for the second option as the third one sounded (at that early stage) too horrible and the first one was not really an option for me (apparently you can be in your 5th month of pregnancy with the dead foetus still remaining inside).
I went on the same day to the hospital (emergency service) for misoprostal therapy. Misoprostol is a type of prostaglandin hormone. The hormone induces contractions that open the cervix (neck of the uterus / womb) to create a period / miscarriage. The nurse inserts four small hormone pills into the vagina close to the cervix. You have to lie down for one hour, so that the pills cannot move. Then you go home and wait.
The treatment should work after 24 - 48 hours and may be quite painful. However, the nurse gives you plenty of strong pain killers.
If the miscarriage has not worked after 2 days, you go back in the hospital for the same treatment. Then you wait one week.
Based on some internet research I did, the treatment should work for around 70% of cases after the first treatment and this increases to 80% probability after the second treatment. Unfortunately, I had no serious period even after the second treatment.
I decided then to go ahead with the D&C operation which was after all not as horrible as it sounds. It is a day-surgery at the hospital where the dead foetus gets removed under full anaesthesia. The procedure is fast and I had no pain after the surgery but quite some bleeding for a while. Everybody in the hospital was very nice as they feel sorry for your loss. Even a priest came to talk to us.
My recommendation:
Decide for the misoprostol therapy if you prefer a more “natural” way of ending the miscarriage. I wanted to feel via a period that I will now lose the baby. It helped me to better understand and digest what happened. However, be aware that the treatment could be a slow process, particularly if the first dosage has not worked fully. Regarding the pain level, I cannot give a judgement as the treatment did not work with me and I had no pain at all.
Decide for the operation (D&C) if you prefer a fast, painless process of miscarriage and if you don't mind to have surgery. It is a one day procedure and the physical process of the miscarriage is over. However, the psychological process of getting over the pregnancy loss will also need some time, independent of the treatment you have chosen.
