Has anyone had tissue manually removed during a miscarriage? Did it help?

[victorioussponges]

We had our 12 week scan a couple of weeks ago and were unfortunately diagnosed with a MMC of twins. A little while after I had a week of on and off bleeding which suddenly picked up last night/this morning and turned into full on contractions 90 seconds apart. Was losing a lot of blood and 111 told me to go to A&E. Eventually seen 5 hours later and the doctor manually removed some tissue during a speculum exam but couldn't say what stage things were at and how things would go. I asked if she would check some larger tissue I had passed whilst waiting in A&E to see if it was one of the sacs but she said they weren't able/allowed to check tissue with a view to identifying it.

Was sent on my way and told to come back if the bleeding got heavy again. I know every experience is different but does anyone have any sense of where this is likely to go next, and what difference it is likely to make that some of it has been manually removed? I've still been bleeding but not had any pain/contractions since what I passed in A&E, but presumably there's another sac and potentially two placentas to go? The blood loss was pretty worrying, particularly as they didn't seem to have the staff to see me for hours (I also haemorrhaged in labour in my first pregnancy and this brought back some bad memories). Thank you for any experiences 💐

Have you not been offered a D&C?

Unfortunately not - no management yet (I'd been leaning towards MVA if possible). At the 12 week scan they said they wouldn't be able to do anything until a rescan in a couple of weeks as per protocol (even though they could already tell the pregnancy was not viable for various reasons). I last spoke to EPU on Friday and as they're shut on weekends they said to just see how the bleeding went, go to A&E if it got too bad and they'd see me again in a few days to plan next steps.

Oh no I’m so sorry. I had a MMC at 14 weeks but was able to have ERPC / D&C within a week.

Go back to ED if the bleeding gets worse, but I would recommend management if you can get some … my bleeding / pain got significantly worse while I waited for the procedure and I wouldn’t have wanted to have done the whole thing naturally.

Thank you, @Collette78 and I'm really sorry for your loss.

The pain and bleeding this morning/early afternoon was pretty shocking. I was given maternity pads in A&E but was constantly soaking through those, my clothes and an absorbent pad they'd given me to sit on.

If there is likely more of that to come then I would definitely go for management ASAP. The doctor was very non-commital today, though. Also my unit apparently only does MVAs on a Thursday anyway so there's a bit of a wait regardless!

I'm so sorry OP. If products get stuck in the cervix, it can cause a great deal or pain, bleeding and contraction like pains. The Dr would have removed whatever was stuck. Your scan was done at 12 weeks, but did they say at what age growth stopped?

Sorry if TMI, but if you soak the products in saline or salty water, clots will eventually dissolve into the water, whereas products will not. You can get a sterile pot from a pharmacy, keep in the fridge and when you get seen by EPU, ask for testing. Unless its your 3rd loss, they won't do genetic testing, but might go basic histology. They did this in my 2nd pregnancy loss and although didn't provide genetic reasons, did provide some reassurance/confirmation that I had indeed been pregnant and it was a molar pregnancy etc.

I'm sorry the Dr you saw seemed dismissal. TBH, she may not have worked in gynae before, nor seen an/many MC's, so may not be familiar with looking at products. In terms of 'what stage you are at', well, it doesn't follow a text book and without a scan, she'd have little idea really. I've lost 3 and all were very different in terms of pain, bleeding, what passed first etc.

If you are still soaking through the hospital maternity pads and clothes- I'd go back to A&E, as it sounds like more products are stuck. I'm sorry you are going through this, but happy to answer any questions if I can help x

Thanks it was a long time ago so I’m okay now … I didn’t say sorry for your loss earlier and went straight to advice .. apologies.

Once the physical part is done give yourself some time to grieve, it’s easy just to try and crack on with things but the emotional part is hard.

if you are soaking through like that I’d go back to ED.

Take care xx

I had medical management and went back for a check up scan and they could see something so was signed off work.

I felt fine but then days later started bleeding horrendously I had to sit on the toilet and then on a towel in the car and it was pouring of out of me. It's so traumatic

It's retained products trapped in the cervix. You really need a scan.

Sorry for you loss and your trauma

I'm thinking of you tonight.

Did they not offer to rescan you the next day to make sure all the tissue was removed?

That's what they did with me when I had a MMC at 13 weeks in 2018. I started bleeding heavily so was rushed into hospital where they diagnosed I was miscarrying and did an emergency D&C. Then the next day they called me back in to scan me to check they had got it all.

So sorry you're going through this, it really sucks ❤️

Thank you all for such thoughtful and helpful messages, and I'm so sorry for what you've all been through 💐

To answer a few questions, they didn't give gestations at my 12 week scan but going by the measurements it looked like there was one empty sac that was probably about 9w, and one very small sac with some contents that was probably about 5w max.

The examination/removal was a bit odd - all the Dr said was that they'd examine my cervix with a speculum and before I knew it they were removing tissue. I asked if they were removing it because it had got stuck and if that could have caused the heavy bleeding (I'd read about that before) and she said they couldn't say on either front. They are going to do basic histology on the tissue, though.

A slight complication is that I'm away from home for a few days so wasn't at my usual hospital. I'm booked in for a rescan at my home EPU on Tuesday and the hospital today said they were happy for me to wait until then and just come back if the bleeding got heavy again. (I asked how heavy I should look out for this time and she said if it's running down your leg and you're feeling faint(!)).

Crossing my fingers that tonight is calm, I can get home tomorrow ok, and then get things under control on Tuesday.