What happens if baby dies in utero

If you choose this option, you will be in the Labor and Delivery Unit at UC Davis Medical Center and will have all of the same pain treatments available to you as a woman who is naturally in labor like IV pain medications or an epidural. The treatment typically starts with swallowing a pill to make the uterus more sensitive to the medications to induce labor. About 24 hours later, you are admitted to the Labor and Delivery Unit and will have medicine tablets put in the vagina every few hours to cause labor.

Sometimes, women need medicine through an IV to also help get labor started. It may take days for the uterus to go into labor and for the delivery to be complete. Bleeding may continue for several weeks after a labor induction but tends to be much lighter with a surgical evacuation. Any bleeding may change in color from bright red to pink or brown. Lower abdominal cramping in the few days after treatment is also common.

You should contact a doctor right away if the bleeding gets heavier instead of lighter over time, if a fever develops, or if vaginal discharge or a strange or unpleasant vaginal odor occurs. Avoid intercourse, douching, or using tampons for one week. Regular activities can be resumed right away, based on how you feel.

Importantly, if you want to delay getting pregnant, it will be very important to start an effective method of contraception. Q: What is cervical insufficiency? A: This diagnosis is made when a woman has dilation of the cervix during the second trimester without having any contractions or signs of a uterine infection. Some studies suggest that some types of surgeries performed when women have advanced pre-cancerous changes in the cervix can increase the risk of cervical insufficiency.

With these surgeries, part of the cervix is removed to get rid of the pre-cancerous changes. In women who have these types of procedures, the chance of having cervical insufficiency is about 1. Q: What treatments are available if one of the tests shows I have a medical problem that increased the chance of a second trimester loss? A: Our specialists will work with you to maximize your health status before you try to get pregnant again.

For some women, this may mean treatment of a thyroid condition, improved control of diabetes, or changing medications being used for chronic illnesses. Some conditions may require blood thinners like aspirin or injectable medications that should be started early in the next pregnancy after a normal pregnancy is seen with an early ultrasound exam.

What genetic testing is available for my next pregnancy to help figure out if the pregnancy is normal so I can learn earlier if the pregnancy is genetically normal? A: It will be important to meet with a genetic counselor, if possible, before your next pregnancy, who can also review the details of the available tests. The counselor can also talk with you more about your history and your family history to make sure no genetic or familial medical problems are missed.

There are a few different tests, all of which can be performed early in pregnancy, depending on what is right for you. Screening for some of the most common chromosomal abnormalities just from your blood called NIPT or non-invasive prenatal testing. First trimester screening can be performed between 11 and 14 weeks which involves a blood test and an ultrasound examination. In some situations, chorionic villus sampling a biopsy of the placenta or expanded prenatal screening may be indicated.

Our specialists and genetic counselors can work with you and your family to help you understand all of these tests and figure out what approach is right for you.

Q: After a second trimester loss, how long should I wait before I try to conceive again? A: There is really no good information available to show the absolute right answer to that question.

First, it may take a month or two to have any testing completed to help figure out why you had a second trimester loss. This natural death of an embryo or fetus 'non-viable pregnancy' or 'intrauterine fetal death', depending on the duration of pregnancy can be identified by ultrasound before symptoms like blood loss and abdominal pain occur. Sometimes an embryo may not have even developed 'empty sac'. Mifepristone blocks the activity of progesterone, a hormone that supports pregnancy.

These and similar drugs may be useful in bringing on expulsion in women with a non-viable pregnancy and can be used before 24 weeks' gestation. Waiting for spontaneous expulsion is also possible. These are rare complications.

Gastro-intestinal side effects such as nausea and diarrhoea, cramping or abdominal pain and fever have been reported with misoprostol. Surgical treatment has the disadvantage of requiring anaesthesia.

It carries risks of damage to the uterus or cervix and possible development of fibrous tissue in the inner lining of the uterus. These can be avoided if the non-viable pregnancy is treated with medication, or if the woman is able to wait for a spontaneous expulsion. We set out to determine if medical treatment is as good as, or better than, surgical treatment or expectant management waiting for the expulsion to happen.

Furthermore, we compared different doses and administration routes in order to detect which regimen most often induces a complete miscarriage with the fewest side effects. For this updated review, 43 randomised clinical trials involving women with non-viable pregnancies at less than 24 weeks' gestation were included. The main interventions examined were vaginal, sublingual, oral and buccal misoprostol, mifepristone and vaginal gemeprost. These were compared with surgical management, expectant management, placebo, or different types of medical interventions were compared with each other.

Fourteen comparisons had only one trial. The studies varied in risk of bias. The quality of the evidence ranged from very low or low for most comparisons.

Vaginal misoprostol may hasten miscarriage when compared with placebo but made little difference to rates of nausea, diarrhoea or to whether women were satisfied with the acceptability of the method.

It is uncertain whether vaginal misoprostol when compared to placebo reduces blood loss or pain because the quality of the evidence for these outcomes was found to be very low. Vaginal misoprostol was less effective in accomplishing a complete miscarriage compared to surgical management and may be associated with more nausea and diarrhoea.

There was little difference between different routes of giving misoprostol when trials compared the vaginal route with placing it under the tongue or between oral and vaginal misoprostol. Single studies found mifepristone to be more effective than placebo and vaginal misoprostol to be more effective than expectant management.

However the quality of this evidence was found to be very low and so we are not convinced of these findings. This means going to the hospital and, usually, getting medicine that starts the labour process.

If labour doesn't start on its own, your doctor may take steps to get your labour going. After delivery, you will probably be able to see the baby if you want to. Although this can be very hard, some parents want the chance to hold the baby and say goodbye. You will probably go home the next day. Your doctor will discuss whether this is an option for you. Delivery by caesarean section is rare in fetal loss. It is major surgery, so it's only done when going through labour would be more dangerous.

If the exact cause of death isn't known, you may face a decision about whether to have an autopsy. This can be a hard decision.

But an autopsy may help you find out why this terrible loss happened to you and whether it could happen again. After the delivery, there are things you can do for your physical health and comfort. Call anytime you think you may need emergency care.

For example, call if:. Call your doctor, midwife, or nurse call line now or seek immediate medical care if:. Watch closely for changes in your health, and be sure to contact your doctor or nurse call line if:. Author: Healthwise Staff. Care instructions adapted under license by your healthcare professional. If you have questions about a medical condition or this instruction, always ask your healthcare professional. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information.

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Top of the page. Stillbirth Before Delivery : Care Instructions. Your Care Instructions Stillbirth is the loss of a baby after 20 weeks of pregnancy.