Missed miscarriage

[EllaSW]

I had a missed miscarriage at 9 weeks which was identified at 10 weeks. It was medically managed in hospital but a scan two weeks later has just revealed that a small amount of pregnancy tissue remains. Not sure what to do as I want to avoid surgery and scarring and I want to try to conceive again. Does anyone have any experience of a similar situation and if so do you have any advice? Thanks all.

I’m so sorry for your loss 💕
When I had a missed miscarriage I was offered a D&C but I wanted to miscarry naturally. Some of the pregnancy remained and I was still testing positive, and after weeks of extremely heavy and painful bleeding I had to eventually go for the D&C. They removed what was left, and in hindsight I wish I didn’t wait so long. I thought it would just happen naturally but it didn’t and the whole thing was pretty traumatic up until the procedure.
What are the doctors recommending for you at this point? Personally if I experienced this again I would just go with the medical advice for treatment.
Express your concerns and plans and ask all the questions you need to get reassurance from the medical team. I hope everything works out ok for you 💕

@OhRight7Thank you so much for your reply. I’m so sorry for your loss also 💞 I hope that you have managed to move past it.

The doctors haven’t really made a recommendation, which is quite frustrating. Basically I can “watch and wait” in case what remains (2cm or so) passes when my period returns (I’m not bleeding at all atm) or I could have an MVA. I don’t know much about the latter and am a bit worried about damage of scarring, particularly as I’m older and want to try again. But then just waiting and still being a faint positive on a pregnancy test is awful too. Are you in the UK? And I hope you don’t mind me asking but did you hope to have a child after your miscarriage and D&C?

Thanks again for the kind reply.

I’m in the uk and this experience was about 10 years ago. I went on to have another miscarriage a few years later (4 in total) and I now have had a child since then. The missed miscarriage was my 3rd pregnancy and my child was my 5th pregnancy.
I didn’t experience any effects from the D&C, but I got the contraceptive injection soon after as I was too traumatised from the miscarriage to get pregnant again so soon. I ended up bleeding nearly daily for another almost 2 years but I seen a few gynaecologists in that time and had internal scans and they were certain that there was no damage from the procedure which I had absolutely convinced myself of, but it was a hormonal reaction to the injection that caused it. Their advice reassured me enough to decide that if I was in that position again having a missed miscarriage, I would opt straight for a D&C as all the medical assessments showed no damage from that procedure.
It’s a really difficult choice. Speak to them about your concerns and about wanting to conceive again soon and ask for all the possible risks with both options (procedure and continuing without), and then give yourself a timescale of how long to wait. I think it’s probably risky to wait too long due to risk of infection but if they’ve said to wait until your next period, then ask them what the maximum time for that is, because I would have thought you might not have a period if your body still recognises a pregnancy.
I’s really sorry you’re going through this, I completely understand the emotional turmoil of not wanting a procedure that you might need to have anyway. Speak to your doctor again and try get some further reassurance so you can make a decision you’re comfortable with x

@OhRight7Congratulations on having your child after what sounds like a very difficult time.

I think that you’re right and I suspect that I’ll need to book a one-off private appointment to discuss the pros and cons of each option in my specific situation. I’m not surprised that you went on a contraceptive for a while after your experience. If I were younger I’d do the same as while I understood the risk of miscarriage I honestly I had very little understanding of missed miscarriages and what they entail.

Thanks again for your thoughtful replies. I really appreciate them x

I’m sorry for your loss, it’s such a hard thing to go through 💔

I’ve had two MMCs and two MVAs so can try give you some info. I had one before my successful pregnancy and one after. My second one I conceived my first cycle back (currently 5 weeks pregnant).

I was also scared of an MVA impacting my ability to conceive again, especially doing it twice, but I had a successful pregnancy after one and very quickly conceived after the second (don’t know yet if this will be successful but hopeful!)

Both times it went super smoothly. Apparently an MVA leaves less scarring than a D&C, but this is just what I was told. X

@TinytotdriverCongratulations on your recent news 💕 I’m keeping fingers crossed for you! And thanks so much for your lovely message. If you don’t mind me asking, did your period return quite quickly afterwards? I’m worried that mine won’t return naturally. The positive line on a pregnancy test is now much more faded (which points to pregnancy hormone levels declining) but I don’t know if retaining tissue after medical management means that you’re less likely to pass what remains naturally.

I also miscarried and was advised to wait for a natural passing but unfortunately it didn't happen. I ended up having a D&C but thankfully did manage to conceive after that.
Wishing you good luck and please be positive!
X

I had an MVA two weeks ago for a missed miscarriage at 8 weeks and whilst it’s probably too early to talk about any effects of it/impact on my ability to convince again, in terms of the process it was absolutely nowhere near as bad as I was expecting it to be. Uncomfortable yes, but very manageable

Thank you! It didn’t take toooo long for my period to come back, it was more that it took a while for my cycle to be back to normal length i.e. ovulating at the right time to be able to conceive again. So I had my MVA in June and then my first “good” cycle wasn’t until the October, but fortunately I conceived right away.

It’s a good sign that your lines are fading, but if the wait for a bleed is too difficult then MVA is at least an option x

I'm so sorry for your loss. I've had 4 MMCs and 4 lots of surgical management. I have had zero scarring or complications (miscarriages were 2019, 2023, 2024 and 2025). It's a personal choice which management you go for - I wanted to have things over physically as soon as possible and have as much control as possible, and for me it made sense to go for surgical management so there was a clear line of it being over. I conceived again each time after 6,9,6,3 months respectively.

It's worth noting my miscarriages have all been for genetic reasons, nothing to do with uterus lining etc x

Thank you all. @Moosey898that sounds very tough. How did you cope? Congratulations on your successful pregnancies 💗

Oh sorry if I was unclear - we haven't had a successful pregnancy yet, had 4 back to back missed miscarriages.

Physically surgical management was absolutely fine. Bleeding was minimal and stopped after about a week. Period came back 5-6 weeks after surgery. Emotionally I've had a ton of therapy which has really helped. X

@Moosey898I’m so sorry for my clumsy message. I misread your message. I’m keeping fingers crossed for you to have a successful pregnancy in future if that is what you would like ❤️ pleased to hear that therapy has helped x

@EllaSW please don't worry at all. And thank you, hoping we do get to bring home a baby one day.

I hope you're able to physically and emotionally recover quickly, sending all the best wishes your way xx

I also meant to ask the Mumsnet world - can anyone recommend a doctor in London to see for testing after a miscarriage?

I went to the recurrent miscarriage clinic in London, but through a GP referral. At the time you had to have had 3 miscarriages, it might be two now. Not sure if that is correct but I remember reading about potential changes in line with that.
If this is not your first loss, then definitely speak to your GP about a referral. If it is your first loss, there will be plenty of private options available but I wouldn’t know any to recommend unfortunately x

How are you OP?x

@OhRight7so kind of you to check in - thank you 🙏🏻 I saw a doctor privately who advised to wait until my next period (which has just started) and see if what remains passes naturally, which she thinks it might. Hopefully it will be clear to me that it has or has not. So for now there is yet more waiting in a strange sort of limbo. Keen to start to put this behind me and move forwards. Thank you for asking x

I had a d&c following a missed miscarriage in October 2021. I’ve had two children since in February 2023 and February 2025 - no complications and no further miscarriages. The medical management didn’t work for me.

I’m sorry for your loss x

@Candleflower12Thank you for your message 💕 I’m sorry to hear that you went through that but so pleased to hear you have gone on to have two children - congratulations. x