Abdominal Pain After a Miscarriage

Going through the pain of losing a pregnancy is usually not easy. Following a miscarriage, you could encounter a roller coaster of different emotions along with physical symptoms as your body fully recovers from the misfortune. Losing your child leaves you upset. Again, you may have abdominal pain after it.This is usually in the lower area of your abdomen. So, can this be termed as a usual side-effect of the miscarriage, and if that is correct, why? What could be happening at such a time?

Is It Normal to Have Abdominal Pain After Miscarriage?

When a woman loses a pregnancy, they can physically and emotionally be affected. The pain in abdomen is usually not one of the best. Most of the women who have had a miscarriage encounter some abdominal pain along with cramps. The discomfort level is not usually the same for all women. This is usually determined by the pregnancy stage when the miscarriage occurs.

All the same, the abdominal pain that is linked to a pregnancy loss does not necessarily stay for a period of two months. In such a case, it would be very vital to seek a medical practitioner for a further examination.

There are various reasons as to why a pregnancy can be terminated. One of these is a pregnancy outside the uterus or ectopic pregnancy. This condition of a miscarriage leads to changes in the anatomy of the woman’s body that are unusual and should be assessed. Additionally, when a miscarriage occurs, it is possible for the placenta parts to be reserved within the uterus and not removed with the rest of the conception products. The retained tissue of the placenta can lead to an infection that can threaten the life of the mother. A simple ultrasound assessment can be applied to establish whether the entire placenta has been removed from the uterus.

What Other Symptoms May Occur Except Abdominal Pain After Miscarriage?

Total physical recovery from pain after miscarriage can take between few weeks to a period of a month. Your recovery will be dictated on the extent to which your pregnancy had gone.

1. Anemia

A miscarriage in some women can lead to anemic conditions. This condition is normally characterized by a low count of red blood cell or hemoglobin. It usually causes exhaustion feelings, irritability, tiredness and physical weakness. Your healthcare giver could make recommendations for you to use certain iron supplements and maybe, make some changes to your diet in order to get help with this.

2. Bleeding

After the miscarriage has been endured, or following the operation, the amount of bleeding could be same as that of a usual period. In most cases, the bleeding will be somewhat lighter. The length of bleeding is, however, different for various people. This may last for a week or as long as three weeks, dying off gradually (on and off) before it stops completely. Most caregivers advise the use of sanitary pads in such moments.

3. Infections

Occasionally, a woman will get some uterus infection in the first few days of a miscarriage. The physical infection signs could be tenderness at the lower region of the belly or lower abdominal pain after miscarriage, a fever and probably an offensive discharge with an awful smell. Usually, the infection also activates heavier bleeding. Your caregiver may try to detect whether there is any pregnancy left in the uterus with the use of ultrasound.

4. Milk Flow

If the miscarriage occurred after fourteen weeks of your pregnancy, then there are possibilities of producing milk from the breasts. However, it is common to have breast milk produced later during the pregnancy for some women. When milk comes in, the breasts will get filled anytime about two to five days following the miscarriage. Your breasts may feel swollen, painful and hot.

Healing After Miscarriage

Physical Recovery

Treatment depends on how and when the miscarriage occurred.

If it happened at the initial stages of pregnancy, usually with 7-8 weeks, you will get recommendations from your doctor to let your body expel any placenta or fetal tissue by itself. This could be in form of a huge period along with strong cramping.

However, if the miscarriage occurred somehow later or if you never experienced any signs that your pregnancy was in a tricky situation, such as abdominal pain after miscarriage and bleeding, until an ultrasound did not work to assess the heartbeat, medical intervention would be required.

As an option, medication could be given to make your body release the tissue of pregnancy that normally happens 24 hours to a number of days afterwards. Again, your doctor could make suggestions to perform a dilation and evacuation process, a uterus suction to take away any placental or fetal tissue. Although mild cramping could be experienced for a 1 or 2 days along with a light bleeding, it is always a safe procedure.

Emotional Recovery

On the other hand, women often feel sad, grieved, and anxious of future pregnancies, anger or guilt following a miscarriage.

  • Grief is a natural response and must not be denied or suppressed. Talk to people about how you feel to help you deal with your feelings.
  • Guilt: Women may feel that they were responsible for the miscarriage. They may start looking out for things like foods and drugs they took and take them as the reason for the miscarriage. That is usually not the case and no guilt should be felt along those lines.
  • Anxiety: Women feel that this could happen again in the future and therefore want to talk to their doctor concerning the chance of such a thing happening again. While the risk of having another miscarriage occurs, women who have had a miscarriage can still get pregnant and deliver a healthy baby after successfully completing the pregnancy term.

Do I Need Any Tests After a Miscarriage?

If you get a miscarriage during your first trimester, you may not need tests. The causes of miscarriages happening at this time are usually not known and therefore, such tests may not really help you. However, if you have had several of them in your first trimester or had one in your second trimester, some tests may be recommended to establish what could be causing them. Here are some of the tests:

  • Chromosome tests: These small, thread-like structures found in cells carry genes and some miscarriages are a result of problems from the chromosomes. Therefore, you and your partner can be tested to check the possibility of issues with your chromosome. The miscarriage tissue can also be tested to establish the situation.
  • Tests on hormones: Hormones are body chemicals. Many of them or a very few of them for specific ones can cause some issues that could lead to a miscarriage situation. You may get your blood tested to confirm some issues with hormones or maybe, you may undergo an endometrial biopsy procedure that is done to remove a small portion of the uterus lining to look for hormones.
  • Bloods tests for immunity check: Body immunity protects you from infections. If the immune system is low, a miscarriage can result.
  • Viewing the uterus: An ultrasound using sound waves can be used along with a computer screen to screen the uterus. A hysteroscopy can also be conducted by inserting a special scope via the cervix to check your uterus. An X-ray of your uterus can also be carried out.
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