Can a Miscarriage be Misdiagnosed?Sep 27 '03 (Updated Oct 12 '07) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Never give up hope. If you suffering through a miscarriage, get help but know that "misdiagnosed" miscarriages aren't necessarily uncommon. For more information, please visit www.misdiagnosedmiscarriage.com DISCLAIMER Miscarriages are, unfortunately, quite common and this article in no way is meant to diminish the pain involved when a woman has miscarried. By deepest sympathies if you have ever endured this sort of loss. My Story I’ve had two pregnancies now and, in both pregnancies, I was told I was most likely miscarrying or about to miscarry. In both cases, the doctor’s were wrong. This article is meant to give hope that all is not necessarily lost. My First Pregnancy During my first pregnancy, at twelve weeks, I was sitting down watching television when I had the sensation of losing control of my bladder. By the time I reached the bathroom, there was a trail of blood and I was hemorrhaging. We made it to the emergency room in record time and had already been told by two separate individuals that this was most likely a miscarriage. The fact that the doctor was unable to find the heartbeat seemed to verify my impending loss. However, 24 hours later, through an ultrasound we discovered my baby was alive and kicking. Again, at seventeen weeks, I suffered another hemorrhaging episode and, in fact, bled throughout most of the remaining pregnancy. My son is here today and we found out, after I delivered through the placental pathology report, that my placenta had had a stroke, was partially dead and the umbilical cord was not even fully attached. My son is truly a miracle baby. My Second Pregnancy After my experience with my first pregnancy, I was fairly reluctant to ever get pregnant again but I was assured that my first pregnancy was likely a fluke and I shouldn’t have to worry about experiencing that same fear a second time. So, nearly five years later, I got pregnant again. Five and a half weeks into the pregnancy, my ob-gyn decided to do an ultrasound because I was high-risk during my first pregnancy. No baby could be found. The gestational sac was there but no baby. A few days later, we did another ultrasound and still no baby. The doctor thought my dates might be off but that was impossible in our case. I was given about a 50/50 chance of a miscarriage, specifically a blighted ovum (where the baby fails to develop) that can be quite common. At the next ultrasounds, my baby could still not be seen. My HCG levels were so high that, even at the five and a half week ultrasound, that baby should have been seen. The doctor prepared me for my miscarriage and we discussed a d&c, which I absolutely did not want. I felt that if I were going to lose the baby, I needed to physically experience it to truly accept it. The doctor then gave me a 95% chance of miscarriage. The only reason I wasn’t given a 100% chance was most likely due to my begging that there must be some sort of hope of which he was very reluctant at that point to give me. That weekend, my husband took me away for the weekend where I spent most of the time in tears. By this time, I had cramping and was no longer feeling pregnant (which I now know can happen in viable pregnancies during the second month). I was feeling such mixed emotions. On one hand, I was torn apart thinking of the loss of this precious baby and on the other hand, I just wanted it to be done with and I was angry that the miscarriage process had not yet started yet. Well, at my next ultrasound, just under nine weeks, my baby could be seen plain as day and she is now almost four months old. Why did this happen? Well, we’ve discovered that my uterus is tilted and perhaps the baby was just well hidden. I also have a bicornuate (somewhat divided) uterus. Neither of these conditions was picked up by ultrasound and may have contributed to my ‘hidden’ baby. The Reason Behind this Article I’ve shared my stories on many website forums and occasionally get e-mails from women who are experiencing these same miscarriage scares. Occasionally I get emails from women who were told they were going to miscarry and their babies are here today. Today, I received another email from a mom who found one of my posts from almost a year ago and emailed me looking for hope. Her d&c is scheduled for this week but I’ve asked her to hold off in hopes that this is also a misdiagnosed blighted ovum. Several years ago, I wrote a number of articles for this site. I haven’t written one in a couple years but have found that my parenting advice and personal story articles are still often read and many women have told me they have found them through search engines such as Yahoo. So, while the personal advice reviews here make no money, I’ve found they are worth it because they can save a baby’s life and that is my intent with this article today. Can A Miscarriage be Misdiagnosed? Based on the number of emails I’ve received from women who have shared similar stories and are holding their babies today, I want to give you hope if you are feeling lost, sad or scared because you may be losing your baby. I’m torn because I don’t want to give false hope, but these ‘misdiagnosed miscarriages’ do not seem to be as rare as I once thought. I even had one mom contact me who was told she had a blighted ovum but she refused the d&c and at more than ten weeks they finally found her baby alive and kicking. So, What do I Recommend? I often wonder how many babies are ‘accidentally’ lost through the d&c procedure. I have no doubt most d&c’s performed are for valid reasons but I do know that my babies could have been lost to a d&c. So, if you have found this article and are wondering what to do, I recommend just waiting for proof. That proof, as sad as it may be, may be the sight of that little heart no longer working or something else discernible through ultrasound. If the only proof you’ve received is the lack of a baby being found through ultrasound, don’t give up hope right away. Many of us have been through that and have our babies here today. In these instances, as difficult as it may be, wait for the miscarriage to start naturally. You, too, may have one (or, in my case, two) of these miracle ‘miscarriage’ babies. August 2004 Update I occasionally get emails from other women unsure if they are really miscarrying. Some of the women go on to have their babies and some do end up miscarrying. We've started a new site to provide support and collect stories. If you are looking for more information or want to add your story, please visit www.misdiagnosedmiscarriage.com . Update: Since beginning the site, we have collected almost 200 stories of misdiagnosed miscarriage. Thank you!  |
| Read all comments (30)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
