Bicornuate uterus

[Mochiface]

Hi all,

I can't stop playing over everything in my head these few weeks and I have another question in mind.

I was told I have a bicornuate uterus and I always read that it only causes problems in pregnancies at a later stage. One time, the only time I made it far enough to see the midwife, she said that this will be the reason why I've had two miscarriages already. When I saw her, I was pregnant with my third and had already lost two. Just suffered the fourth recently.

I also read some people are misdiagnosed for a bicornuate uterus rather than a septum in the uterus until they have a MRI scan.

Anyone have had experiences of either bicornuate or a uterine septum please?

Sorry for your losses. I've just had my 5th loss although I have one child. I have a septated/bicornate uterus (sonographers always used the first term until this last loss when they used the second). I had to have regular growth scans with my daughter but the pregnancy was fine and it's never been mentioned as being the cause of my losses as they are early on. It's true that they can't see it properly without a 3D scan or MRI. I think one of the conditions can cause issues with implantation and the other with restricting growth later on but that's just from my own googling! I'm hoping for a referral for recurrent miscarriage now so hoping that will shed some light, have you had any investigations?

I'm sorry for your losses @Mochiface 💜 I recently had a mmc in April and was told at one of my scans they suspected a bicornuate uterus but couldn't be certain. They also blamed my miscarriage on the fact I have fibroids. I saw a gynecologist after the miscarriage was confirmed as complete and she reassured me that neither a bicornuate uterus nor fibroids would be the cause.

I've recently has a hsg and another ultrasound as part of fertility tests. My bicornuate uterus is quite mild but waiting to see the consultant in a few months.

My pregnancy implanted in the right place, the only way it would possibly cause an issue is if it implanted in one of the horns and it could cause issues later in pregnancy with running out of room to grow.

Are you seeing a specialist, perhaps in the recurrent miscarriage clinic? I've found that some hcp make wild guesses not based in fact, just their opinion.

@moomin11 I'm sorry to hear of your losses too

Hi @moomin11 I'm sorry to hear about your losses. I'm surprised you haven't been referred to the recurrent miscarriage clinic already, did you have your little one in between the losses? I'm sure even having a child hasn't made it any easier with coping with the losses. Sending love your way. When did they start the growth scans? I only found out about my bicornuate uterus with my third pregnancy as that one went the furthest around ten weeks, discovered at nine weeks the baby had no heartbeat even though seen at six weeks. I read the exact same things until the midwife said that as a passing comment. I will have my first appointment at the recurrent miscarriage clinic on 22ND July.

Hi @VenusStarr I'm so sorry to hear about your loss and sorry to hear what you've been through Was the HSG painful or uncomfortable? Did you see a gynaecologist privately or referred if you don't mind me asking? My third pregnancy implanted in the right horn and at the time, the hospital said it was a good place and pregnancy looks good and sent me on my way. I went to the hospital for a visit due to spotting and then outing with blood which turned out to be a haemorrhage. The last sonographer said mine was mild too but after reading that it's not so clear on scans, it's making me think what it actually is. I am going to my first appointment in July and not sure what to expect. Half expecting I'll get the nothing we can do for you type of answer cos I'm just so exhausted from it all and rather think like this than out my hopes up.

Hi @Mochiface. The gynecologist was nhs, I asked to be referred after my first scan as the epu had suggested it was the fibroids squashing the sac. I saw a community gynecologist and she went through everything that happened and wasn't concerned. She said she didn't want to mess with the fibroids.

The hsg was incredibly painful. One tube was ok but the dye went in the other but they weren't confident it went out the other side but didn't want to try again as I was in too much discomfort.

I was told that it's more common to have bleeding in pregnancy with a bicornuate uterus.

I can understand you feeling exhausted. I've started counselling and my counsellor said there's so much in my head. Hope you do get some answers in July x

I can definitely relate to feeling exhausted by it all. Yes I had my daughter after 2 mcs and then have had an ectopic and 2 more mcs since (still going through my most recent one now) so haven't met the threshold of 3 mcs in a row. I haven't spoken to my GP yet but emailed a clinic in London from the Tommys website directly and they said I do meet their criteria which is reassuring. I'm a bit hesitant as I'm worried they won't find a cause, but maybe it will give me some closure. The losses have definitely affected my mental health. I do take a lot of comfort from having my DD but also imagine her being a big sister each time which hurts when it doesn't happen. I know I'm extremely lucky to have her and if anything appreciate that more with each loss. I just don't know how many more times I can go through this. I hope you both manage to get some answers

Hi Mochi, I'm sorry you're going through this.

I have had 4 miscarriages, I am currently on my 5th pregnancy. 8w5d which seems to be going great so far.

On my first visit to EPU to confirm my very first miscarriage, they told me my uterus was biocornuate, they also said it doesn't cause early miscarriage and is a very common variation on the norm.

After the third miscarriage, I insisted on a gynae referral. I had an ultrasound investigation on my uterus. They thought my uterus was actually didelphys or septate, but couldn't quite see. Septate does cause issues with miscarriage, as the septum doesn't have blood flow so any implantation would likely fail - however septum's can be successfully removed. Didelphys is a double uterus, complete separate to the other. They both should function as normal.

I had another miscarriage, this time I was scanned by the same ultrasound tech who did the investigation when I wasn't pregnant - this is the best time to properly investigate and diagnose as pregnancy can make things harder to see. She was adamant my uterus was didelphys. Back onto the waiting list for further investigation and I get pregnant!

I had a scan with the new recurrent miscarriage consultant and they are now adamant my uterus is didelphys. I am happy about this (for now) as it has less cause for early miscarriage, but it is a high risk pregnancy due to potential growth restrictions later in pregnancy.

Anyway, my point is - it's very hard for them to accurately diagnose. Please insist on a referral as soon as possible, if you can get into Tommy's rather than local clinic - do that. Tommy's have far more specialised knowledge than the NHS (in my experience)

If you have a standard biocornuate - great - I wouldn't worry. It really is just a variation of the norm, but if it is something else you want to find out as soon as you can so you can possibly get it fixed - which does have great success rates.

Also, in my (non medical) opinion - my uterus isn't actually the reason for my miscarriages, however it's very hard to get anybody to look past this very obvious medical diagnosis for further cause.

Please feel free to inbox me if you need.

I really hope you get the answers you need

I was told that if the miscarriages were as a result of the embryo implanting in the middle part of the womb, IVF can help as the embryo transfer can be guided into either the left or right side of the womb. Suggest speaking to a clinic like Care Fertility as they tend to use really experienced consultants.

It’s also possible that if the embryo implanted in the left / right side that your miscarriage may not have had anything to do with your uterus and could be something else. Suggest asking your GP or recurrent miscarriage clinic for further tests.

I'm very sorry for your losses, mochiface.

I have a bicornuate uterus. This was only discovered when I had a CS with my first dd. Throughout the pg I had said it felt as if I had a door down the middle of my abdomen as she was only ever in one half of my utreus. Her head was wedged permanently under my boob as she grew. Very uncomfortable.

I had an ECV to try to turn her but she wouldn't budge. When I had my cs, we found that she had the cord wrapped round her neck three times and she had no room to move, due to the shape of my uterus.

I have one mc after that (but it was very early, so I have no idea if ir was just one of those things or due to my uterus).

Then I got pg again. I had a VBAC, and I felt the baby move normally on both sides this time, so the embryo must have implanted differently to my dd.

I wish you the best of luck.