Help my miscarriage bleed out naturally

[frankiefirstyear]

At 11 weeks I was given an ultrasound that showed a miscarriage. I had bleeding on and off throughout pregnancy. Since the ultrasound though, I've had no bleeding (four days). I'm anxious to help the natural process, rather than have to go back for medical intervention, is there anything I can do to help move things along and bleed out? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Hi,

Sorry for you loss.
I had a missed miscarriage a few years ago. Found out at 12 week scan there was no heart beat. I decided to let things happen on there own without medical intervention which I did later regret as it really effected my mental health. I did do some research on this any found an article about cinnamon tea. 7 cups in one day and I did completely miscarry that day. Probably just coincidence but you could try it.

💐xxx

Raspberry tea (7-9 cups a day). If you’re in an Indian area then get yourself to a sweetmart and get something called ‘katlu’ — it’s a bitter sweet made from methi designed for women who’ve given birth and encourages bleeding. Tastes horrible but it does work. So does dill water (7-9 cups a day)

I don’t really think that there is anything that you can do to “speed things along” .
It’s just waiting.
Prepare though, get some codiene based painkillers from the shop, so solphadine or the like, big pads and stay near a toilet and where you are comfortable.

If the pain and/or bleeding gets too much then don’t hesitate to go to get medical help.

I’ve had two natural miscarriages where they just bled out without assistance. I only got to 6 weeks with those pregnancies though. My MMC at 12 weeks ended with me opting for surgery.

Have you been given your options in terms of surgery/medical management etc?

Are you prepared to potentially see the foetus OP if you choose to let things happen naturally? I was really scared of that which is why I elected to have surgery once at 12 weeks and once at 17 weeks. I’ve no idea whether that would be okay to deal with mentally or not, I know some women find it comforting.

I had a "natural" miscarriage at 10 weeks and I echo what others said, prepare yourself for the bleeding.

Regarding seeing the fetus, does that actually happen? I thought I saw one in what I passed, but told myself it couldn't possibly be. It was about 10cm long.

I would imagine so Clearly but at 6 weeks I have to say I didn’t.

I’m sorry for your loss and hope you are coping ok and getting support. In the nicest possible way, I wouldn’t recommend the natural route unless you are fine with lots of blood and pain and possibly seeing the gestational sac. Not a foetus, as the pregnancy is too early for that, but a sac that might be around the size of a golf ball.

Also, leaving it too long is dangerous. You run the risk of infection. If you are absolutely determined to avoid surgery, then you need to opt for medical management instead where you take pills they will give you at the hospital / your doctors to bring on the bleeding. Are you getting medical advice? Make sure you stay in touch with your doctor and stock up on pain medication.

I had a MMC at almost 12 weeks gestation and had planned for surgery but it started by itself over the weekend (scan on Friday, surgery had been scheduled for the Monday) and it was not pleasant. I wouldn’t recommend natural mc at 12 weeks to anyone but of course every miscarriage is different and it’s your choice.

Thanks for the replies.

I have an appointment for the follow up at the end of the month. The way it was discussed at the hospital was that they'd expect me to be 'emptied' by then naturally and I can cancel the appointment if I feel I've had a successful (?!) miscarriage. I was given emergency numbers to call if I can't manage the pain with paracetamol and ibuprofen or manage the bleeding. I just said I'd go along with what they thought was best. At that point I just thought the bleeding would continue and get worse, certainly not stop altogether! Medical intervention wasn't discussed and I didn't know what to ask to be honest, I imagine another method will be used if I have trouble or if I've not bled when my next appointment comes around.

I am a single mother and don't really have many people I can call on for assistance, but I will if I feel incapable of caring for my child during any part of this and hopefully someone will come to my aid! I have extremely limited childcare so that's why I'm keen to get this over with at home rather than hospital to and fros. I feel quite heartless saying get it over with but that's how it feels I just feel dread at getting an infection and where or when the contractions will start. I'm not squeamish or anything so hopefully the blood etc won't be a problem for me ??

I’m so surprised you weren’t given other options. I’m so sorry frankie, would you prefer medical intervention? You have the right to push for it if that’s what you want. They say there is a cut off for surgery in a standard hospital, I can’t remember what that cut off was though. I ended up pushing for surgery at 17 weeks in BPAS in London as I knew i didn’t want medical management. So if you want a D&C then don’t feel like you can’t have it, you can.

I want whatever option means I don't have hours/overnight in hospital really because there's really nobody to watch my child especially overnight. I'm not sure of the timescales for the procedures used.

D&C is not an overnight procedure. You go in in the morning and you leave around 5pm. Then you have light bleeding for two weeks and it’s done. Have you been given any numbers to phone to speak to a member of staff? I know you said you were given numbers to ring in an emergency but did they give you any other numbers to discuss options?

If not then can you get to the GP ASAP and tell them you’ve been just left to miscarry naturally when you would like the surgical option instead. They should then set the wheels in motion for you.

Hi OP, firstly so sorry for your loss. I had five miscarriages in week 11 or 12 before having my DC, all but one of them natural. I strongly believe that doctors push D&Cs on women far too readily. It’s an invasive procedure that can cause scarring (Asherman’s syndrome) and affect future fertility. Miscarriage is natural - as natural as pregnancy and childbirth - and although I know it’s not always possible, it can be so much better in your own home, in privacy and comfort.

You can get everything you need around you, cosy blankets, paracetamol, hot water bottle, chocolate or hot drink if that works for you. I’ve always felt better being on my own, cosy and safe. I know you’ve got your little one to look after but make sure you look after yourself as well.

After the bleeding starts it can take a little while (even a few hours) before it really gets going. Once it does the cramps become regular, like a period but a bit more intense. You can breathe to ease the discomfort the way you would with any cramp, and I found you can even push to help the tissue pass a little more easily. In two out of five of my miscarriages I passed the embryo in a sac. It sounds shocking but it was the most positive experience for me and gave me a sense of closure both times. I could tell the embryo had stopped growing earlier than 11-12 weeks and it all made sense somehow. You might even want to use a sieve when you go back and forwards to the loo to make sure you can check for your baby/embryo (however you think of it). This helped me, but everyone is different. Do whatever works for you.

There are a few US sites that advise on taking the supplement black cahosh root to encourage the bleeding. They sell it at Holland and Barrett. I took it for one of my miscarriages, to help clear the last of the blood clots after passing the embryo. Not sure if it helped directly but when I went back to the clinic for a follow up scan I had passed all the remaining tissue, so no need for medical intervention.

PM me if you need to ask anything - the same for anyone else reading this who is waiting to miscarry. This is your miscarriage, you’re in control and it doesn’t have to be an awful experience.

Thank you. One thing that's on my mind is that I needed induced when I gave birth because my waters went but no contractions started, I also had no urge to push throughout the labour, so I wonder if that will affect things now - if my body will need help again to complete the things others' seem to do without drugs or instruction.

I’m not sure that managing the miscarriage at home is advisable when you are a single parent with a child you already need to care for. Mine took hours and hours of bleeding where I couldn’t get off the toilet and I only managed it because I had no DC at the time and had my DH with me to help and he called an ambulance when it got too bad to manage at home.

A D &C sounds better because you can schedule it and get it done in a day which means you can plan for childcare. I ended up staying overnight in hospital anyway for observation because of blood loss when I had a natural mc so going the natural route doesn’t guarantee avoiding hospital. Either way, we are just strangers on the internet so I would advise getting back in touch with your doctor to get better advice and make them aware of your situation.

@frankie do you have someone you can fall to come over and spend the night when the miscarriage starts? Some of mine have taken longer than others, sometimes the bleeding is really no worse than a heavy period other than for 3 hours or so.

I hope mines like a bad period, I could call maybe one friend but everyone is likely to be unavailable due to partners/them working shifts, unable to drive and turning their phones off at night.

At the ultrasound did they give you any measurements of the size of the embryo/fetus? This could give some clue as to when the pregnancy stopped developing, which can give you an idea of how much tissue there will be for you to pass.
Thinking of you.

9 weeks I think they said

Hoovering def helped things along for me op. I had to work as usual, cleaning, and passed a tiny feotus at work sadly.

Sorry for your loss.

So sorry, so tough to go through. At 11 weeks I miscarried a pregnancy that stopped growing at 9 weeks and it was like a heavy period, with some very large clots and pieces of tissue at first. The heaviest bleeding was on day one for about four hours. It lasted for two weeks but was like a period and manageable, I even went on a planned flight. I hope yours is okay. Sending you good vibes.

@Summer so sorry for your loss and experience.