Miscarriage after LLETZ treatment

[AAHL]

I have found out this week (after a month of on and off bleeding and three scans) that I am miscarrying. I am around 9 weeks pregnant. This is my second pregnancy, first one went very smoothly and all was fine. After my first pregnancy, I had to have cone biopsy and the LLETZ treatment on my cervix following abnormal results from my smear test. This was in March this year, I then got pregnant in May. I was told about the risk of have a premature baby but that was it. I now cannot stop thinking that it was related. I cannot find evidence online at all and everything is very contradictory but I just wondered if anyone knew of any links? I guess it makes sense that my cervix is weakened but would it mean I am more likely to miscarry? I am struggling emotionally with this all, and waiting for a date for surgery to remove the baby etc, it is just so hard isn't it. I never imagined I would feel like this.

[MrsMGE]

Sorry you're going through this lovely. Bumping up for you.

I haven't had LLETZ but I read it may sometimes cause weakened cervix (aka "incompetent cervix", I hats that phrase - and that is actually the cause for a potentially increased risk of MC)? Is this what you think may be going on?

I had cryosurgery many years ago for abnormal pre-cancerous cells and never thought anything of it prior to my MC. Will definitely be asking my GP about the risks if I get pregnant again.

Lots of love to you, take care

[MrsMGE]

You may want to look at Tommy's website BTW, if you haven't already xx

[RosaWaiting]

OP I am so sorry

I read up a lot about the risk of smear tests and I am not an expert by any stretch, but I immediately make an association in my head with treatment of "abnormal cells" and miscarriage.

there's some info here

www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6192

the last line in "results" says "cervical treatment was associated with a significantly increased risk of miscarriage in the second trimester"

I'm really sorry. Other articles suggest that the LLETZ would never be done on someone unless there was a significant risk.

unfortunately, I have had some bad experiences myself with what doctors considered to be high cancer risks. It's not related to pregnancy but it has certainly made me think a lot about how some of these risks are calculated and I doubt I will ever go for screening again.

all good wishes to you

[MrsMGE]

@Rosawaiting But smear tests are PAP tests, not LLETZ? PAPs do not weaken the cervix and are safe. You shouldn't be missing your cervical screening.

I am quite surprised LLETZ is still being done to women who may consider pregnancy in the future, I was told back in 2004 when I had my procedure that only the heat methods are not recommended if I'm thinking about having children in the future. This was however, in a different country. I am still going to ask my GP about the associated risks, but nevertheless from what I was told, cold methods are safer.

OP, please don't worry - this may not be the real cause, but you need to flag this up to your midwife ASAP in your next pregnancy. There are multiple ways of dealing with this to help you have a healthy pregnancy if this is the cause. Please don't worry now cause the reality is that in early MC, causes are most often either unknown or different (i.e. unrelated to weakened cervix which mostly causes complications later on in 2 & 3 trimester if left untreated) xxx

[RosaWaiting]

MrsMGE sorry, I meant that while I was reading up on the risks with smears, one issue that came up was LLETZ after finding "abnormal" cells and the possible risk for future pregnancies.

"You shouldn't be missing your cervical screening." I have made an informed decision not to have them any more and I am happy with that.

[RosaWaiting]

actually re-reading my post, I was quite clear that it was LLETZ and not the smear test that I had read was a risk.

OP I believe there might be some info in the Margaret McCartney book but I read it a long time ago so I can't recall.

She writes for the BMJ so there might be an email address for her.

[Greenmarmalade]

I'm very sorry for your loss.

I think it's unlikely lletz was the cause as weakened/shorter cervix would generally only cause a problem later on in the pregnancy.

Anecdotally, I had lletz for cin3. I had a full term pregnancy which began a few months afterwards, then an early MC, then another full term pregnancy. I insisted on having my cervix measured each time, to check I didn't need any interventions: all was fine.

[MrsMGE]

@Rosawaiting There really is no need for that tone, especially on this thread. The first paragraph of your post was not clear, perhaps it was clear to you, not to me as a reader.

Re smear tests, it's everyone's individual risk-benefit analysis and a personal decision. I'm leaving this at that.

[RosaWaiting]

Er, I didn’t have a tone
I just looked at my post again to check.

[RosaWaiting]

I mean check the info, not the tone!

Sorry op, I really am going to bed now!

[Tolleshunt]

I don’t notice anything off with Rosa’s tone. If anything, I would bristle at being told ‘you shouldn’t be missing your cervical screening’. It comes across as very school-marm. Whether anybody takes up screening is down to them, and decisions either to take it up or not should be made on an informed basis, not just because somebody says you should. Screening, whole flagging up potential cancer risks, can also result in unnecessary treatment (much more commonly, in fact), which can have negative effects down the line.

OP, I am really sorry to hear about your mc . I can understand why you would wonder about the LLETZ, though like a pp I had understood the risks related more to later pregnancy. Might it be worth seeing your GP to explore your concerns? Cervical length can be measured, and monitored during pregnancy. It is possible to insert a cervical stitch if necessary, and also it might sometimes be necessary to go on bed rest later in pregnancy, if the cervix is particularly short. I feel it might be helpful to get a handle on your circumstances, and any possible plan of action, should it be needed, before any future pregnancy, should you go down that route.

[MrsMGE]

Ok both, apologies if it came across that way, obviously the reason behind me saying this was positive in that screening supports finding out various issues and addressing them earlier. Personally I don't see anything wrong with this and I only said that because I wish you all on here the best, not because it was meant to sound in any way. Please therefore, I am moving on and focusing on OP's issue.

OP - how are you feeling today? It's a pretty horrible time, please talk to us. The support on Mumsnet is great, and sometimes it is easier to pour your heart out here instead of talking to people that you know, purely because we've been through a very similar experience. Sending you lots of love