How To Handle Miscarriage - 5 (Treatment of Threatened Miscarriage)

Not all of the cases of beginning miscarriage end in miscarriage. If the physician is sent for in time he can very frequently give directions that will, if carried out faithfully, avert the disaster.

Success is more likely to attend those cases in which the trouble has been caused by some accidental injury, as a fall, or blow, or extra exertion. This is more especially the case if the woman has previously borne children, is healthy and in good condition and whose womb is known not to be diseased.

In these cases there is a partial separation of the fetus from the wall of the womb, which causes the bleeding. The physician will direct that the woman be put to bed, in a quiet, darkened room. He will instruct the nurse to sterilize the external genital region: a sterile gauze dressing is then left in place.

Some form of prescription will be given to diminish the patient's nervous fear and to allay any tendency on the part of the womb to contract. It is always essential and very important to save everything that passes from the womb during the course of a threatened miscarriage in order that the physician may know exactly just what the condition is. Each cloth, each clot of blood will have to be examined before the proper treatment can be pursued in safety.

When the miscarriage cannot be prevented it is called an "Inevitable miscarriage."

Treatment of an Inevitable Miscarriage:

In these cases every precaution is taken, just as in a normal confinement, to avert blood poisoning. The hands, instruments, dressings, etc., are carefully rendered sterile and the whole field must be surgically clean. The physician will conduct the case as conditions justify and as the situation develops.

After Treatment of a Miscarriage:

It is one of the many thankless tasks of a physician's life to insist on each patient staying in bed at least ten days after a miscarriage. The average woman and frequently the intelligent woman fails to appreciate the absolute necessity for this procedure. It is necessary and it is the physician's duty to insist on it being done in the interest of the woman. Many of the multitudes of diseases of women are caused by disregarding advice on such occasions.

The Tendency to Miscarry:

If a woman, for any reason, has had a miscarriage, her womb will tend to miscarry at the same period during a subsequent pregnancy. If the miscarriage occurs during her first pregnancy the tendency to miscarry will be greater than if acquired after she has had a baby.

This is one of the reasons why young wives often fail to have children. They "get rid" of the first one or two, because they are not ready to have children, or because they want some enjoyment themselves before they are tied down with a family. Having established the habit their womb has been educated to abort, and it will keep this habit up, much to their astonishment and chagrin.

Young wives should therefore faithfully follow out all the rules of the Hygiene of Pregnancy laid down by their physician, and just like everyone else should endeavor to stay alive and live right.