Bleeding after miscarriage

I am 24 years old. I had a miscarriage eight days ago but I am still bleeding, accompanied by stomach pains. I did a scan three days after the miscarriage and they said I was normal – Laide, Kaduna.

When a miscarriage occurs it can either be threatened, complete, incomplete, missed, or septic. In your case, you are still bleeding with stomach (abdominal) pains, it is likely to be incomplete miscarriage. Though the scan showed it was complete but sometimes there could be membranes left which the scan may miss. You need to go to the nearest hospital immediately for Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA).

It is important that whatever is evacuated should be sent for histology to rule out possibility of Gestational Trophoblastic Disease (GTD).

The mainstay is to ensure that the remaining products of conception are evacuated. You will also need antibiotics. I may not know the quantity of blood you have already lost but haematinics or blood tonic may be necessary.

Any time there is miscarriage, women should always see a doctor: to ensure it is complete and to take antibiotics because if not well managed it can become septic which can cause serious morbidity and even death. The bleeding that occurred may even be as a result of septic miscarriage because you did not say whether you took antibiotics or not. Septic miscarriage or septic abortion is a cause of maternal death. In addition, septic abortion, whether obvious or occult, can lead to tubal blockage and infertility.