Foul smelling lady garden department after miscarriage. You are going to tell me to go and see the doc, aren't you...

[mawbroon]

Was going to namechange, but as is the MN tradition involving smelly fanny threads, would probably out myself by mistake anyway....

I miscarried around 12th January, I wasn't very far on in the pregnancy - 6 weeks at most.

Anyway, I bled for almost a week and noticed today that there is a terrible stench down below. I have suffered from nasty bouts of thrush before, but this is an entirely different smell. There is no discharge, and I haven't noticed any pain.

Does it sound like some sort of infection following the miscarriage? I have just finished a week long course of erythromycin for a really awful ear infection, and I would have thought that would have cleared an infection down below.

Any thoughts? Other than get thee to the doctor....

No, not in pain thank goodness.

Oh this was when I had a post partum infection - eight weeks I think. I wasn't admitted with the most recent MC. My friend was though, with her baby - aged seven months, and again she was in gynae.

Oh and the staff were bloody great. I just felt really awful, trying to keep DD quiet (and she was quite unsettled because they couldn't find a cot etc.) because of what the others on the ward must have been going through

Hope you're away getting this sorted and on the road to recovery, mawbroon.

Thanks expat. I called the pregnancy support unit this morning. They said that it was unlikely that I had an infection as last scan showed that my womb was empty. Then she said to go to GP as their waiting time just now was 48hrs.

So, I got a GP appointment this afternoon. He said he wanted me to see gynae at the hospital today and wrote a letter and phoned them.

So then I went to the hospital. I waited 50 minutes before I was seen. In a room full of pregnant women may I add. I was fine about it, but this time last week, that would have really distressed me. Anyway, saw the nurse, then saw the doc. Got sent for a scan, got called back from scan department as they said no point in scanning as the womb was empty on last scan. Got asked if a medical student could ask me a few questions. No bother I said. Few questions!! He only stopped short of asking my shoe size and favourite food. And he even asked what I thought might be wrong.

Anyway, doc came back in. Everyone kept writing pain and discharge on the notes when I was telling them that it was slightly tender feeling and a smell but no visible discharge so doc decided she wanted to go over the whole bloody thing again as the notes didn't seem to tally with what I was saying.

Then she examined me and took some swabs for the lab. She said that there were no signs of infection, and she didn't think I had an infection. But then gave me antibiotics, well actually, she asked me what I wanted to do - did I want antibiotics or not. Aaaargh

So, anyway, I decided that a course of antibiotics wasn't going to do me a lot of harm and compared to the possibility of this getting worse or affecting my fertility, then there was no question really. I will find out in 3 or 4 days if there is an infection or not. Although I really hope there isn't an infection, I am almost hoping that something comes up because they were so bloody hung up on "it can't be an infection, your womb is empty" blah blah. I stopped short of saying "well, why does my fanny smell of cheese then?"
LOL, who remembers the blue cheese wind up thread....

Blimey Mawbroon your hospital sounds rubbish!

Glad you got some antibiotics though - as you say in three days they'll call your GP and say 'ooh bugger, best give her another course' probably.

Am stunned they are so convinced they don't need to scan you though - how the hell do they know without looking they didn't miss something first time round?

You are a very brave woman. I hope this is the last of the trouble today and you have some happier times ahead.

Oh, maw! That sux! How horrible for you.

I hope you're doing okay with it all. I'm really sorry for your loss.

I can't believe they made you go all through that to get ABs.

What a bunch of tossers!

That is terrible MawBroon. Very shoddy treatment. Why could they not give you another scan?

Strangely enough, here in Germany they are so fanatical about the risk of infections that they routinely do a D&C after a m/c. Completely opposite to the very casual way it is treated in UK.

I do think that there should be much more information and help for women in this situation. You should be informed of the risk and told to go back and get scanned if you suspect that there is an infection.

Well done for pushing at them until they gave you the treatment.

but they give you ABs here after D&C, too, and/or warn you about risk of infection.

so even if it's supposedly empty, sometimes it's not!

I have seen a few threads in the past couple of months where posters were oblivious to the risk of infection after a missed m/c. Where MNetters advised the woman to see a doctor.

I wondered if that was because the information was not being given to the women after m/c.