always choose D&C if you have the choice

after choosing to have a miscarriage at home i am just posting this as a warning to others who may be deliberating about what to do,

because i was scared of having a D&C and my dislike of hospitals i chose to let my body pass the foetus naturally. HOW i regret this n ow... i started spotting very lighting about 4 days ago with the odd pain here and there.. yesterday they got quite bad around 12 in the afternoon whilst i was out having lunch. The minute i stepped inside my house i passed a large blood clot (about an inch and a half in diametre). then the cramps came and just got worse. after passing another 6 or so same sized clots i called my dr who said this was normal and i would bleed for as long as I didnt but heavier like a period. i explained that i had already soaked through many pads but he still didnt seem concerned. I took various painkillers but after 4 hrs like this and after passing more blood clots and not being able to stand up without blood gushing out of me i decided to go to A&E.. i was started to feel faint and weak and just didnt think this was normal.. By the time i got to the hospital the pain was so intense i couldnt bear it and was begging for a strong painkiller. In the hospital i passed more clots and by now thought i was hemoraging (sorry for the spelling).. I was literally curled up on the floor in pain and when the doctor examined me i found it very difficult to relax.. he told me that because my cervix was still closed i had not yet passed the sac. He was adamant about this even tho i told him i had passed a lot of clots so how did he know it wasnt the sac. By this time i was convinced I was having contractions (about 4 mins apart and lasting nearly a minute) and was crying out with the pain.. He finally gave me a pethedine shot and after about 30 mins I felt very flushed and started throwing up. I was still having contractions and it took a while for the shot to take any effect. He sent me home with some more painkillers to take every 4 hrs.. I slept on and off and the cramps stopped.. NOBODY told me that a miscarriage could or would be like this. I was 11 weeks nearly and had i known it was going to be anything like this I would have booked myself in for a D&C straighaway. The whole experience was very scary and totally unecessary. I feel utterly traumatised by this and after accepting the fact that i had lost the baby when the dr told me there was no heartbeat now i feel i will never get over this.. due to the pain and utterly helpless feeling i had whilst going thru this. Luckily i had 2 friends with me to look after me and drive me to the hospital otherwise i would have had to have called an ambulance. There was NO way i could have gone throuh this alone or without the pethedine shot. I am angry at my dr and told him so when i saw him today when he cleaned out the rest of the tissue.. There is no need for anyone to have gone through this and i definitely feel like it was as painful as a labour would be. I certainly dont want to go through this again and just want to warn others that even though this is not common it can be like this and its quicker and less traumatic to have a D&C - at least you are in control of your body then and know whats going on... sorry for the long post but felt i had to write this down..

I am very sorry about your experience... I chose to have a D&C this past Thurs. It really was the easy way to go. My Auntand Grandmother had similar stories to yours and they talked me into getting the procedure. I told my doctor that I did not want to remember anything so they gave me twilight anesthesia and it was really not that bad.

I hope that you are feeling better. I am so sorry for your loss.

I am also very sorry to hear about your experience. I miscarried in August, but did not get a D&C. I was never really offered the choice. I bled for about 10 days, but it was pretty much like a normal period. They checked my hcg levels every few days & since they were falling fast, they said a D&C was not necessary. I figured I'd post about my experience, so others aren't scared to death of hemorraging. I was 8 weeks. I don't know if it makes a difference. I hope you're feeling better and I'm very sorry for your loss.

I think we need to remember that a D&C is a surgical procedure and like any surgery, you need to way up the risks involved. Saying this, there is a bigger risk of hemorrhaging from a miscarriage the further along you are in your pregnancy. I have had 4 miscarriages at around about 12 weeks and a D&C with each of them because my body would not expel the products of conception on its own. My youngest is 10 months old now and when I was 7 weeks pregnant I started bleeding. My doctor scanned me and wanted to do a D&C as he could not find a heartbeat. I refused as I wasn't that far along in my pregnancy (unlike the other times) and found out a week later that I was still pregnant. Hence we now have a beautiful and much anticipated baby boy. I only tell this story because if I had jumped into the surgery he wouldn't be here now. Jodieanne, your doctor was very neglectful. Nobody should be forced to go through what you went through.

I agree completely. When I had my first miscarriage I was sent home after being told that I would pass the fetus. What the doc failed to tell me was that I would go into labor in order to pass it. After several days of nothing, it hit me like a lead balloon. I was vomitting, had diarrhea and doubled over in pain. Looking back it seemed like it took a whole day for the process to complete, but I think that it was more like 3 hours or so. However, it was THEE worst hours of my life. I had nothing but ibuprofin and tylenol to take, my husband felt worthless because he didn't know what to do to help. A neighbor came over to help me through the contractions and pain (luckily we lived in a military community and we were all very close knit). Staying home and going through something that you are not prepared for is not something that I wish on anyone.

Be cautious though. I know women who have Asherman's Syndrome as a result of their D&Cs and are not able to conceive. Also, research shows the risk of hemorrhage and emergency blood tranfusions is actually higher with this surgery.

A D&C is a viable option but there are risks just as there are risks for a natural miscarriage and just as there are risks for a medically-managed miscarriage. You'll find "good" stories and "horror" stories for each option.

Discuss your options with your physician. Women who are earlier in their pregnancy tend to do better with a natural miscarriage. If your body just won't let go or you are having complications, D&C is a good alternative.