Miscarriage Series - Part 2
This part two of a five part series, based entirely on miscarriage. It will talk about signs and symptoms of miscarriage, physical health, medical care, holistic care, physical healing, emotional healing, memorials, how to help a friend of family member, and will have three meditations available to listen to.
In my shop there is a document with every handout in one high quality pdf file, if you want to download them that way instead of individually as jpgs from each post. There is a small fee for this to help with costs. The posts and handouts on each post are available for free, though donations are appreciated for the work to create this resource and also to help those going through a miscarriage. Links to donate are available at the end of each post.
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In the last post I talked about the physical side of normal miscarriage, along with definitions and signs of complications. It is a very basic overview of miscarriage, and in this post we will dive into the different types of care you can receive during your miscarriage, along with how to help your physical body during and after a miscarriage.
In the US, medical care given by doctors is the standard or normal for many people. Some prefer more natural means, but the majority will seek medical care before, during, and after a miscarriage, if only because that is what they are used to. Most obstetricians have to take extra classes to handle miscarriage care, and a lot of them never do this. It isn’t required to become an OBGYN. Their training is more focused on pregnancy and term delivery and all that can go wrong during that time. It’s mostly about control of what you can control.
You may not have time to think through your options before your miscarriage begins, or you may have some extra time in the case of a missed miscarriage. It is so unique to each person.
If you are interested in medical care for your miscarriage, there are a few options that you need to be aware of, since no miscarriage is handled the same as another. You are ultimately in control of the situation, even in emergencies.
The very first thing many providers will do if miscarriage is suspected in early pregnancy is order a blood draw to check your HCG levels, to be repeated in 48 hours. HCG is the hormone created when implantation occurs, and it doubles in value every 48 or so hours in normal healthy pregnancy. It never drops if everything is okay, it only goes up. The second value is the most important one because of this. One lab draw by itself can only show if you are pregnant or not, it does not say what is going on with the pregnancy. These values also become more stagnant in their rise the farther along in pregnancy, so if you are farther than 6-7 weeks, they will only show a rise or fall, nothing else related to how the pregnancy is progressing.
If you are farther than 6 weeks, many will then schedule or perform an ultrasound to check on the embryo and the uterus. Sometimes this is done before the labs are drawn, sometimes it has to wait until after. It is truly up to you and your provider. If you are less than 6 weeks, it is very unlikely to see any sort of embryo in the ultrasound, and definitely not cardiac activity. If you are earlier than 5 weeks, you may not see anything in the uterus. Knowing your dates is one important piece to getting an ultrasound at the right time, and it might be best to wait if you can to get that ultrasound.
If both or either of these are done, most providers will then wait and see before next steps, even in the case of missed miscarriage. In the case of earlier miscarriage before 10 or so weeks, they will give you the option of waiting a week or two before coming back in for more tests and then medication or surgery to end the pregnancy. Sometimes they will give you the option that day to do either of those things, but it’s not as common.
From here, you have three options.
Wait and see. Your body will probably start labor on its own and pass the contents of your uterus within a month. It can take time, and when you found out your pregnancy isn’t viable, it can be really hard to wait for the end date. For many, they need that release to start healing, and until that occurs, they live in limbo.
Medication options
The first option is mifepristone. This is a progesterone blocker, normally used in abortion, but also used if the fetus is no longer growing properly or miscarriage is imminent but the body hasn’t realized it.
The second option is misoprostol, or cytotec. This is a contraction inducer, starting the physical release of the pregnancy. This is taken at home either orally, rectally, or vaginally.
With either of these options, the embryo or fetus should pass vaginally, and you can keep the remains to do with what you will.
Surgical options
A D&C or D&E (depending on length of pregnancy and what needs to be done to clear out the uterus) is performed under sedation or general anesthesia. General is not common, sedation is the more used anesthetic.
Your cervix is dilated, and a curettage or vacuum is inserted into the uterus to clean out the contents.
In this option, you cannot keep the remains, as they have been pulled apart by the tools.
Regardless of what you choose, there are positives and negatives to each. Medication options could mean that the uterus releases its contents but leaves some behind, meaning you will need surgery anyway. Surgery comes with its own risks, and it is also possible that the uterus isn’t completely cleaned out, and you will need another one. Regardless, you will have vaginal bleeding for days or weeks after, as your body sheds your uterine lining and goes back to its pre-pregnancy state.
Now, there are those that don’t want a medical option for their miscarriage, for whatever reason. It’s 100% your call which way to go. If you don’t wish to have medical intervention, there are many options to go through.
Nourishing your body physically and emotionally during the wait. This includes getting enough food and water, along with proper rest. Your body can’t work if it isn’t being taken care of, and having a miscarriage is a lot of work. One of the best ways to nourish your body is through herbs, especially in teas and tinctures.
There are many to choose from: Red Raspberry Leaf, Ginger, Peppermint, Motherwort, Nettle, Red Clover, Echinacea, and Elderberry
It’s okay to take as long as you need. As long as you don’t have heavy bleeding and hemorrhage or signs of infection, time is on your side. Sometimes it can take a month or more for the body to catch up if left on its own, and that is not an abnormal amount of time.
In the Holistic Care Handout I have added three sections on the left side that deal with herbal ways to proceed with a pregnancy release. If you are thinking of going this direction, all you need to do is pick one thing from each section, using them from the top to bottom a few days or a week before moving on to the next section. Most of the items can be found without issue locally, regardless of where you live. They can also be used if you are in the physical process of the miscarriage and want to speed it up or aid the process.
Sometimes in this place, your body needs only one thing from you - acceptance. Not to put off grief or anything else, but to understand and feel that the miscarriage needs to happen, and that you are physically holding on through your emotions. In part six there will be a meditation for releasing the emotions and the pregnancy. Intention can be a very big part of this process. Your thoughts and feelings matter.
Now that you have figured out which way you want to go, or simply know your options on how to proceed, one of the most important things to consider during and after miscarriage is supporting your physical body. Your body has gone through pregnancy and birth, even if it isn’t what you hoped. Even being pregnant for a short time, your body went through hormonal, mineral, vitamin, and other physical shifts. During the actual release, you lost blood and other nutrients that your body needs to heal optimally and remain healthy.
One of the biggest things to do is get adequate rest. If you are constantly going, it’s hard for your body to relax, and you need to sleep to heal. Your body went through a process and needs the rest, even if it is just sitting down for an hour or two. Many workplaces won’t give sick or vacation time after a miscarriage, so take whatever you can get and relax your body.
You also need to eat well. You need to rebuild your iron levels, your blood stores, and your nutrient and vitamin stores. This is important even if you aren’t considering pregnancy again in the near future. What you do during this postpartum time matters for the next years. In Ayurveda, they say that what you do for the next 40 days affects the next 40 years.
Lastly, you need to stay hydrated! Not with soda, with water. You have to drink water. It can help prevent and alleviate headaches and migraines, exhaustion, depression, and anxiety.
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Below are the four handouts as image files that are free to download. Simply click the image to be taken to the file. If you wish to have higher quality PDFs, please visit my store for the file containing every handout in this series.
If you need a coupon code or the files for less than the $10 they sell for, please reach out to me.
If you wish to donate to my business to help those going through miscarriage, you can below as well. I offer holistic loss services as donation based fee only.
