I know this is an old post, but I wanted to share my experience for anyone looking for some information on the MVA procedure..
Yesterday I had a scan at the EPU in Derriford hospital in Plymouth and found that my baby had stopped growing at 8 weeks (I would have been about 10 weeks at this stage) I'd been bleeding for almost 2 days and was referred by my gp.
Of the 4 options I was given (1. Wait for nature to take its course; 2. Take some drugs to hurry nature along; 3. A general anesthetic to remove the "products of conception"; 4. A local anesthetic to "remove the products of conception") the MVA was the best for me. I did t fancy waiting around for anywhere up to 6 weeks for things to sort themselves out and a GA would have meant being in hospital for most of the day which wouldn't have worked as we have a 4 year old at home and haven't wanted to tell anyone yet.
We arrived at the hospital for our appointment at 12pm, a nurse took my bloods as this hadn't been done routinely in my pregnancy yet. We then went to a room where the doctor who would be performing the procedure explained everything to us and I signed a consent form.
A nurse then gave me several oral painkillers and antibiotics, a diclofenac supository (yes up my bum) and three pills vaginally to soften my cervix.
We then had to wait 45 minutes for these to start working. Then I was taken to one of the scanning rooms where the procedure would be performed. The nurse, doctor and a consultant were in there with me.
I lay on the bed, had my blood pressure and temp taken. Then the op began, a speculum was inserted, some local anesthetic injected into my cervix, this was sharp and scratchy but very much bearable. This took about 3-4 minutes as there were several injections. Then my cervix was gently stretched open, this was a little uncomfortable but again bearable.
My womb was emptied with a kind of auction device (so my DH says, I didn't hear or see anything) towards the end it felt very crampy, I guess like bad period pains (I don't tend to have painful periods) but it was no worse than that, gas and air was offered but I didn't need it, it was the sort of pain I would take a couple of ibuprofen and a hot water bottle for. These cramps I knew meant we were almost done as the doctor had already explained this for me. The suctioning itself probably took only a couple of minutes.
After that there was a vaginal scan to check everything had been removed. I got dressed and we went back to our original room so I could lie down for 10 mins and get myself back together. I felt a little light headed and shaky but was fine after a few minites.
We were on our way home 2.5 hours after we arrived. It really wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, everyone we dealt with was so lovely, sensitive and very professional. I hope to god we don't have to go through this again, but if I do it's what I'd choose again.
My husband was with me the entire time and an absolute rock.
I have spent the afternoon and evening relaxing on the sofa at home, have no pain and only very light bleeding. I have every intention of trying to conceive again very very soon.
I do hope this will put someone's mind at rest who is about to go through this, it really is t anywhere near as bad as your imagination makes you believe. I also feel so much better knowing that within 24 hours of finding out that our baby had sadly died it is all over and we can move on.
For me it was absolutely the right choice and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.