What to expect following ERPC?

[Gurraun]

I had a partial miscarriage at 8 weeks last week and 2 scans showed sac firmly in place so I opted for an ERPC yesterday.

I had a long wait as just as they were going to take me down they realised that although I have 2dc they were both ELCS so I needed pessaries and another 2 hour wait.

This meant I didn't get back to the ward until after 5 and was pretty much forgotten about until I asked if I could go at 7.30pm.

I didn't see the doctor so only know it went ok from reading my discharge notes and have no idea really what to expect in terms of bleeding/pain. This morning I have light bleeding and quite bad period type pains deep into my bottom - is this to be expected and when should it improve?

Thanks and sympathy to everyone who has the misfortune to be on this board and able to answer my question :-(

Hi, firstly my sympathies, I experienced a missed miscarriage ten years ago and the memory still makes me well up.

I did experience a lot of pain and very heavy bleeding, I'd say similar to post partum blood loss a day after birth. My husband said that when they brought me back from theatre and moved me from the gurney I was laying in a pool of blood. I was three months gone when the baby died so don't know if my level of blood loss was normal for that stage.

I hated the pains too, it felt especially cruel to go through such an emotional loss and then have to suffer physical pain too. I know that probably sounds a bit childish but at the time I can remember just wishing the pain would stop as it kept reminding me. I took strong prescription painkillers and the pains tailed off over a week or two and my next period was completely normal.

I hope this is over for you soon and that you start feeling better. Take very good care of yourself, it's an awful time. Unfortunately I developed panic attacks in the week after that still bother me to this day, I think the emotional weight of a miscarriage is very often underestimated.

Thank you for your kind and thoughtful reply. It is a very crappy time 😢

I had an ERPC 4 weeks ago - I experienced heavy bleeding and period pains/back ache for the first few days following the procedure.
For 2-3 weeks after the procedure I had spotting and occasional stomach ache.
Apart from slight bloating I now feel physically back to normal and ready to ttc again.
So sorry for your loss.

Thank you - you too. Stupid question but presumably I have to use towels and not tampons to limit infection risk? All questions I would have asked had anyone been to see me afterwards!

Hi there, I'm sorry you're going through this.
Yes to towels instead of tampons and showers rather than baths (reduce infection risk).

With my ERPCs I don't recall bleeding much in the day or two after but that definitely stepped up if I did too much and was very very heavy one day. So take it easy if you can.

Thank you - gutted as hot bath with glass of wine in hand was only silver lining!

Bleeding much more than I expected and supposed to be back at work tomorrow. This is miserable 😓

Can you go back to the doctor to be signed off? I took two weeks off after my miscarriage, I wasn't well enough to go back before. How understanding is your employer? I think most people will understand that this is a bad time for you and won't mind if you need a few more days.

I was told by the hospital I would only need two days off work but I was still bleeding and in a lot of pain on day 3 so I ended up having the whole week off. My employer was very understanding when I told him the reason why when I got back to work.
It took me a lot longer to be psychologically back to normal (if you ever can be after a m/c?)
Take Care

Oh and you can self certify for a week - so no need to be signed off by a doctor just yet.