No heartbeat at 7 week scan

[sunshinebaby1]

At my 6+1 day scan it showed a heartbeat.
I went back for a 7 week scan and it showed no heartbeat. Just wondering if anyone had been though the same thing?

The lady at the private scan clinic said it is a missed miscarriage, how long should it take to pass? I know everyone is different, but not sure if the surgery route might be better?

Not experienced this before as it is my first pregnancy, so not sure what to expect really

@sunshinebaby1 so sorry for your loss. I had a MMC in September. Thought I was at 9 weeks but it stopped growing at 6. I was meant to have a follow up scan a week later to confirm the MMC. We already knew as the dates weren't right! So I didn't have the option to have surgery at this point as they had to confirm it had stopped growing first. I had to prepare myself for going through it naturally just in case it happened.

Four days after I found out (6 days after spotting started, which led me to getting scanned), I passed most of it naturally. It wasn't pleasant but it was bearable for me.

I ended up having MVA under local for retained tissue a few weeks after as it hadn't all passed naturally. This procedure was also bearable for me. The worst bit has been all the waiting and uncertainty.

This was also my first pregnancy so I totally feel for you. I would say to do what feels right for you at the time, but prepare that it may happen naturally whilst you are waiting.

@13lucy hello thank you so much for your reply! And I'm so sorry to hear about your loss
I'm just a bit lost with it all. Not sure where to begin. I've not had any bleeding what so ever so I know it hasn't started yet. I've heard it can take a few weeks to pass and I'm just a bit worried about it all.

So sorry for your loss. I had my 12 week scan and everything was fine, and then had a private scan booked 14+5 but started spotting that morning. Had the scan and no heartbeat, baby measuring 12+2 so can't have passed long after my scan.
I ended up having contractions the two days later and passing the baby (day before I was scheduled for surgery). So all in all was just under 3 weeks. I'd probably contact EPU for advice.

@sunshinebaby1 it is a really worrying time, try and look after yourself as best you can.

As @user1488042156 said, you can contact EPU for advice. You could also speak to your GP. I found 111 extremely helpful when I started miscarrying naturally as it was on the weekend. The doctor called me a couple of times during the day to check I was ok which helped.

Happy to help with any questions and I hope you're doing ok.

@user1488042156 I feel a bit silly asking this but I've never been through it before, how would I know if I've fully pass everything out? Did you have to go back for a scan to confirm this?
So sorry for your loss it's just hard at the minute as I was so early that no one knew so I have no one to talk about it with except from on here xx

Completely forgot about 111 thank you so much for reminding me. So good that a doctor called you to make sure everything was fine

@sunshinebaby1 I miscarried at about 8 weeks before and I knew I had passed it as the pain stopped - I was never checked to see if it had all passed.

This time I knew I had passed as it was a tiny baby, but due to blood loss I was admitted to hospital and they did a scan there to see if there was any retained tissue, which there was, and I just had to go back a week later to see if it had passed naturally.

I've had two miscarriages. Both after seeing early heartbeats which is devastating. So sorry you're going through this. The first one passed naturally and I was six weeks.
Second I didn't pass naturally. I was 10weeks. I had medical management which was fine. Confirmed everything had past with a negative test a few weeks later. Although did take about 3weeks to get a negative test.

@sunshinebaby1 I am so sorry for your loss - I lost my first pregnancy last month so I know how overwhelming and confusing it feels. I had a scan at 7+5 where I saw a heartbeat but baby was only measuring 6+1, I started with light bleeding a week later and then had a scan at 9+1 which showed there was no longer a heartbeat. I didn't pass the pregnancy naturally so I opted to have surgical management.

I would suggest that you look up your local hospital to see if it has an early pregnancy unit (it might also be an emergency gynaecology unit - that's what my hospital has) and find out how you get an appointment with them. Some accept self-referrals and others need you to be referred by your GP or through the hospital's A&E department. If you need a referral, contact your GP practice and explain that you need to be referred to EPU/EGU for a scan to confirm miscarriage and they should be able to do it.

If you do go to the EPU/EGU, they might not accept private scans and will want to do their own - I had to be scanned twice, 7-10 days apart, for final confirmation of miscarriage before they would offer any intervention. Of course, you might find that during the waiting period you start to miscarry naturally - if that happens, the advice I was given was to seek help at the hospital if I was bleeding enough to need to change a pad more than once an hour, or if I was experiencing pain that couldn't be managed with over the counter pain relief. If you don't miscarry naturally, then you will be offered options as to how you want to manage the miscarriage. I was given this leaflet in the EGU to help me make my decision and found it really helpful: https://www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/leaflet/management-of-miscarriage/

Once you've miscarried either naturally or via medical/surgical management, you will then need to take a pregnancy test after a period of time to check that it's negative - I was advised to take one 3 weeks after my surgery and contact the EGU if it was positive. Mine was negative, but if it had been positive then they can do a further scan to check for any retained tissue and treat that if needed.

Sorry for long post, I hope it's useful and that you can get the help and support that you need. Happy to answer any questions about my experience if you have any. In the meantime, please take it easy and be gentle with yourself, it's a really hard thing to go through especially when it's at the early stage and you might not have a lot of people to lean on for support. Take care xx

Thanks for the information @CluelessInLondon - I came looking for this sort of information. Hugs to you @sunshinebaby1 , @CluelessInLondon , @whosaidtha , @user1488042156 , and @13lucy .

@CluelessInLondon thank you sooo much! honestly means a lot you spending the time to send all of this information
And thank you everyone else for your help. I don't feel so alone xxxx

@sunshinebaby1 You're welcome, and I'm glad to have been able to help. You are absolutely not alone, and keep posting questions or concerns here if you want more information and support.

I had a miscarriage very similar dates to you OP. Although I didn't go for a scan prior to it.

It was a surprise pregnancy and was well wanted and loved. Once I got the positive test I waited 3 weeks and booked a private scan (my DD was via IVF due to risk reasons so wanted to check) and I was measuring the correct dates but no HB. It was far enough along to be a miscarriage and not too early.
That evening I passed the pregnancy. The actual baby I passed was a small white seahorse looking thing with black eyes (sorry TMI) amongst 4/5 days of heavy bleeding.

I knew I'd passed it as I saw it in my pad and the pain stopped after that.
I was preparing to have the tablets to get things going but I passed it naturally. It hurt but it wasn't unbearable.

Just snuggle on the sofa with your favourite comforts and look after yourself for the next few days / weeks (if you can)

I'm so sorry, it's devastating. DH was heartbroken too so make sure you confide in each other (if you have a partner)

It's awful but I promise you'll get through it. They are so common and so many of us women have been through it. Doesn't make it any easier though. Take it easy OP.

@IsThereABarUpThere thank you so much for all of this information it's really helpful, I'm praying mine passes naturally . So sorry to hear about your loss aswell

Sunshinebaby1 So sorry to hear your news. I was diagnosed with an MMC last week at 12 week scan. Embryo 6 weeks. Also my first pregnancy so I also understand your pain. Had to have a confirmation scan and now have EPOC booked for end of the week. I want to get it done as soon as possible. The hospital will speak to you about what choices there are for you and you can make the decisions that are right for you. So sad and sorry again.

@Longbarn5 so sorry to hear this I hope your appointment goes well for you

How're you holding up @sunshinebaby1? Just checking in x

Thank you x

Hello, so I've started spotting ever so slightly now for a couple days. If nothing happens this week I'm going to the EPU. But just really hoping this is the start of it, thank you for asking x