Just woken up to brown spotting...

[chattycaterpillar]

Jut woken up to brown spotting every time I wipe. Could there be any other explanation other than miscarriage ? ( I am meant to be 9w2 days today). Had a viable early scan jut over 3 weeks ago measuring 6 w0 day 1 heartbeat. Waiting for 111 doctor to call me back. Is this definitely miscarriage or could there be any other explanation ?

I'm sorry you are having to go through this 💜. Happened to me at 10 weeks but all was well. Ask for a reassurance scan. Best of luck.

Glad it went well for you @Youkilledmyfatherpreparetodie. I've just spoken to my midwife, apparently on the NHS guidelines here in my trust you can't get an EPU referral for brown spotting. Midwife says she thinks it's normal, brown blood meant to be old blood etc.

May look into getting a private scan because if this is a miscarriage I'd rather know.

I don't really know why they are refusing pregnant woman scans with bleeding. Surely it's not good for me to be stressed about this until 12 week scan. I'm really worried and upset.

I’ve had this before, and have had both positive and negative conclusions. If the blood stays brown it’s probably a small bleed which will clear up. If the blood gets redder and heavier, particularly clots then it’s more likely to be a mc.

There’s very little info and very little help/support so I really do feel for you. The reality is that even a scan could show baby is fine but it could then progress to a Mc which is why they don’t routinely offer on the NHS but it does feel heartless.

I booked a private scan when I had bleeding just for reassurance. Ironically that scan showed baby was fine but threw up other issues which I then had hell waiting for my NHS scan for confirmation. There’s no way anyone can tell you everything is ok atm. It’s probably just a case of sitting tight and waiting. If it does progress to Mc you will probably know in next couple of days.

Sorry you are going through this, it’s shit.

@chattycaterpillar

I don't really know why they are refusing pregnant woman scans with bleeding. Surely it's not good for me to be stressed about this until 12 week scan. I'm really worried and upset.

I totally agree. I spoke to a charming Midwife when my bleeding started who said rather bluntly "If you're miscarrying, there's nothing I can do about it". True, but the mental torment and stress is awful and a scan can offer reassurance. It did for me. I hope you are able to go for a private scan.

Not necessarily bad news, I spotted brown blood all the way through my pregnancy.

That is awful @Youkilledmyfatherpreparetodie. Why on earth would someone go into a profession to specifically work with pregnant women to then be so rude about potential miscarriage.

I had an early bleed and the scan showed it was twins. Which was a shock but not the one we were dreading! Went on to have a normal healthy pregnancy. Don't assume the worst, many mums have bleeding without any serious consequences.

Could be implantation bleeding. I had it at 9 weeks and was convinced I was miscarrying.

Brown means old blood, a miscarriage while can start off with brown spotting usually is red bleeding, if it stays brown and as long as there isn't a lot of it chances are things are okay!

Have you had sex recently or a busy day? I've found in past that having sex or overdoing can irritate your cervix and cause some spotting.
Unfortunately your midwife is right an early pregnancy unit won't scan for brown spotting as it is common so they would end up scanning a lot of women for it! Your options really are to wait and see what happens if it stops or goes to red bleeding or book a private scan.

I think I will book a private scan, however am on day 9 self isolating for covid, ( no symptoms), and still testing positive lateral flows so would have to wait for that to be over anyway.

It's still very light, but seems brow/ yellowish now.... :/

Great so I've just spoken on the phone to the EPU and they've said, "we won't accept a referral for this, as it's brown blood, obviously if you are very worried you should get a private scan." Don't understand how the NHS can just tell people they "should" pay for private scans when they get bleeding in pregnancy.

I got a scan at 8 weeks for brown blood (December 2021), they couldn't find a reason and everything worked out OK. It was such a fright as the month before I conceived I had a miscarriage.

Hi I'm so sorry your going through this, I can't tell you what's happening But was told brown blood is old blood I had spotting in 2019 on and off for the first twelve weeks it was brown then to bright red. Scary wasn't the word. I was eventually referred to EPU but not before a lovely dr told me "it sounds like a MC which I can't do anything about so you'll have to wait" wasn't very nice and extremely insensitive. However pregnancy progressed healthily. Wishing you all the luck and I hope you get the result your hoping for. Xx

Just to update, had a telephone appointment with my GP who agreed to refer me to EPAU yesterday evening, ( in my trust you need a GP, Out of hours doctor, midwife or A and E referral to EPAU, they won't accept self referrals !)

Just waiting to see if they accept the referral, ( I won't be able to go in until tomorrow anyway, as today is my last day of self isolation). Really hoping everything will be okay.

As an aside, what a complete waste of an emergency GP appointment, ( having to ask GP to refer me to EPAU cos they don't accept self referrals). My GP is very nice, but no wonder the NHS is struggling if you have to make a GP appointment to get a referral for a scan when most women are perfectly capable of referring themselves directly. It just seems such a ridiculous system, as I'm forced to take up GP time when I could easily refer myself if I was allowed to, and it pushes someone who needs the GP to do something for them that they cannot do themselves, ( e.g. prescribe antibiotics, antidepressants, asthma inhalers, prescription painkillers, contraceptive pill), further down the queue.

I'm so sorry you're getting such a rough time of it. If I were you I'd find my nearest walk-in EPAU and go in. I had quite a lot of brown bleeding, and some bright red bleeding. I was so sure that it was a miscarriage that I had a cigarette and a glass of wine. I went in the next day - about 10 weeks I think - and she was bopping away happily in my uterus. 33 weeks pregnant now, so still got a little way to go, but there is no reason to assume bleeding is always bad news.

If I were you I would want to find out ASAP, whether that's private or otherwise. I am horrified that they've been so rubbish to you honestly.

Thanks, I have a private scan booked for tomorrow afternoon. Mostly seems to have stopped now, but still very worried for the scan .

So had a scan, heartbeat still seen. The first time she measured I measured, 9w 1 day, the second 9 weeks 2 days. According to the early scan I had 3 1/2 weeks ago, ( where I measured 6w0 days, 1 heartbeat), I should be 9 weeks 4 days by now. Should I be concerned by the discrepancy of a couple of days ? The baby mearsured 25.1mm.
The scan I had at 6 weeks was vaginal, this scan was abdominal . What does the discrepancy mean ?

That discrepancy is perfectly normal at this stage as the measurements are so small. Sounds like everything is as it should be. Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy

Thank you @Samanabanana x

I had this with both my boys from weeks 5-12 and sometimes streaked red. All was well and think more common than you would know.

I was going to ask did they spotting start after sex ? Even a day or so after sex? I’m almost 8 weeks and I had it after sex last week it was bright red but stopped immediately then 3 days later I woke up to brown spotting. I assumed it was left over from the bleed during sex. It happened in my last pregnancy too and he’s fine. I’m pleased your scan was good and dates matched up. A few days off is fine it’s when it’s a week or more it’s usually a worry

@chattycaterpillar

So had a scan, heartbeat still seen. The first time she measured I measured, 9w 1 day, the second 9 weeks 2 days. According to the early scan I had 3 1/2 weeks ago, ( where I measured 6w0 days, 1 heartbeat), I should be 9 weeks 4 days by now. Should I be concerned by the discrepancy of a couple of days ? The baby mearsured 25.1mm. The scan I had at 6 weeks was vaginal, this scan was abdominal . What does the discrepancy mean ?

So pleased to hear 💜

@Nikki037297

I was going to ask did they spotting start after sex ? Even a day or so after sex? I’m almost 8 weeks and I had it after sex last week it was bright red but stopped immediately then 3 days later I woke up to brown spotting. I assumed it was left over from the bleed during sex. It happened in my last pregnancy too and he’s fine. I’m pleased your scan was good and dates matched up. A few days off is fine it’s when it’s a week or more it’s usually a worry

Thank you :) Yes, it was about 24 hours after sex, so it's possible that could have been connected.