One of the situations that concern pregnant women, especially in the first trimester but also throughout pregnancy until week twenty, is spontaneous abortion. In this article we will explain what is it and why does it happen.
What is a spontaneous abortion?
A miscarriage It is one that occurs before the twentieth week caused by causes, known or unknown, but unintended.
Most spontaneous abortions occur during the first trimester of pregnancy. The causes are not always determined, as they are, quite possibly, genetic problems that make the embryo not compatible with life and does not move forward.
Although a pregnant woman may suffer a miscarriage due to a physical or perhaps even emotional trauma, relating the spontaneous abortion with practicing sports or sex is a mistake. There is usually no "fault", the reason is usually natural. That does not prevent the mother and father from feeling emotionally affected, as we will see later.
Occasionally there may be a threat of abortion, determined by unexpected bleeding. You should see a doctor who, analyzing the condition of the cervix and with an ultrasound will indicate if the expected child is still alive. In these cases, it is the doctor who will determine whether rest or other containment measures are necessary.
Symptoms of spontaneous abortion
Pregnancy is a complex process and the symptoms of a miscarriage, although quite clear, they will not always mean a gestational loss.
The symptoms of a more characteristic spontaneous abortion are a metrorrhagia (vaginal bleeding) more abundant than that of implantation bleeding and especially with clots, abdominal pains stronger than those of the rule and logically, the ultrasound finding of the absence of embryo activity or fetus
Types of spontaneous abortion
Medical terminology can cause some confusion at such a hard time, so it is convenient to know it to understand well what is happening. There are several types of miscarriage.
The early abortions they are those that occur before the twelfth week of gestation and are the majority of them, up to 80%. In some cases they even occur before the mother is aware of being pregnant.
The late abortions They occur between weeks twelve and twenty of pregnancy and usually require medical attention. If the loss of the baby happens after the twentieth week, there is no talk of abortion, but of premature delivery, even if the baby had died before delivery. Although emotional suffering cannot be quantified by the weeks of pregnancy, the situation of a late abortion or premature delivery can be especially traumatic and the emotional care of the mother and father must also be extreme.
If the cervix is ajar but the embryo has not been expelled or the fetus is talking about an incipient abortion; When it is deleted, it will speak of an inevitable abortion. In both cases there will be contractions and bleeding, which will determine the progress of the gestational loss.
A complete abortion it is one in which the expulsion of the contents of the uterus has already occurred naturally; a deferred abort It is one in which fetal death is determined but spontaneous expulsion of the uterine contents does not occur and it is usually necessary to intervene with curettage or medication, in order to avoid sepsis or infection. However, in some cases, you can opt for an expectant management of the mother's evolution to avoid curettage, always under strict medical control to avoid risks.
After a miscarriage
The majority of women who have suffered a miscarriage They have no problems to have more children, however, in some cases, it can cause complications in subsequent pregnancy.
When three miscarriages occur, we are going to talk about recurrent abortions and it will be analyzed if there are problems to conceive or genetic diseases. In some cases it is said that these recurrent abortions are related to a failure to distinguish non-viable embryos, although the most common cause indicated is thrombophilia, an imbalance in blood clotting.
Emotional aspects of spontaneous abortion
Although sometimes the environment denies the pain of an abortion, there are emotional aspects linked to spontaneous abortion That is impossible to deny. Pain, grief, fear of a new pregnancy and a real duel for the beloved son are feelings that must be accepted as normal and never minimized.
We ended up rescuing the words that gynecologist and psychiatrist Emilio Santos, author of the book The Empty Cradle transmitted in an interview he gave to Babies and more.
How can a woman who lost a baby in childbirth or pregnancy face again the gestation of a child without feeling fear?
Spontaneous abortion and the loss of a pregnancy are events that we must understand as something that happens in nature, a seed can produce a beautiful plant or it may not germinate or do so but not progress. Nature is like that. We have no choice but to accept nature as it is. When a woman has suffered an abortion she needs to go through an emotional process that can be hard, but that is also a maturation process, an acceptance process. The good professional knows how to respect the importance that this process entails for women. A very common mistake on the part of professionals is to try to help forget or try to help minimize this process.
What should be done to help these women?
The mistake he was talking about translates into well-intentioned but wrong phrases such as: "You'll have another baby," "This is nothing," "Forget it." The woman who has suffered an abortion has lived it as something very impressive and very important. He needs his grieving time, his time to digest it, his time to accept it, and his rituals to give that lost baby the importance it deserves. When that woman has another pregnancy, it will be a different one; it cannot be pretended that a mother replaces a lost child with another child to come. They are different beings and each one must have their place in the minds of their loved ones. Otherwise, certain psychological disorders can occur in the new child or in the parents themselves.
We hope we could help you understand the causes, symptoms and types of spontaneous abortion and to understand, also, the psychological aspects of gestational losses, something that we must take into account if we or someone in our environment must go through this painful situation.
