Frozen pregnancy is a serious shock to a woman’s body, both physically and psychologically. To conceive again, a certain time must pass. The length of the recovery period depends on many aspects. It is important to consult a doctor in time and take appropriate action in the event of a similar situation. How treatment and recovery occurs, what cleaning is during a frozen pregnancy, how to behave in order to be able to conceive again as soon as possible will be discussed later.
Symptomatology
It is important to know what to do with a frozen pregnancy. You should start by considering this pathology itself. When making such a diagnosis, the doctor may say that the fetus stopped developing, growing and died. Most often, such a misfortune occurs in the early stages of pregnancy, but it is not excluded in later ones. This happens quite often, especially with those women who became pregnant for the first time.
Due to this pathology, the pathological process, a number of unpleasant symptoms and conditions that require immediate treatment can begin to develop in the body. The sooner such a condition is discovered, the faster the woman will go through the rehabilitation period, the smaller will be the negative consequences.
If the fetus froze, not always a similar state manifests itself immediately. One of the symptoms of this phenomenon is considered to be a sharp cessation of nausea, other manifestations of toxicosis. But many women do not have such manifestations at all. Toxicosis does not accompany every pregnancy. Therefore, its absence cannot be regarded as a pathology.
If the pregnancy has stopped, a number of other symptoms appear. One of them is called a decrease in basal temperature. During pregnancy, it is kept at the level of 37.1-37.3 º. This temperature lasts up to 20 weeks. Then it gradually decreases. If it decreased much earlier, for example, at the 8th obstetric week of pregnancy, this is a serious reason to undergo an examination.
Also, one of the symptoms of pathology is the cessation of pain in the mammary glands. But in the lower abdomen, painful sensations may appear.
At any stage of pregnancy, you should contact your doctor as soon as possible if spotting has appeared from the genital tract. This is abnormal and may indicate a threat to the woman’s body.
At a later date, the absence of fetal movements indicates a frozen pregnancy. It is extremely dangerous to do diagnostics on your own. Sometimes pathology is quite difficult to identify. External causes such as a still growing belly, blood tests can deceive. The fetal membrane can grow, even if the fetus has stopped developing.
Diagnostics
What to do with a frozen pregnancy? It is important to undergo an examination as soon as possible, visit your supervising gynecologist. Special examinations are not needed for this. A gynecologist who has sufficient experience will be able to determine the presence of pathology at the examination. He will ask the woman about the symptoms that have been accompanying her recently.
There are certain standards that the fetus must comply with at any given gestational age. Accordingly, the uterus should increase in proportion. When there are deviations in these parameters, an ultrasound is assigned. In this case, a woman passes a blood test for hCG. These available diagnostic methods allow you to evaluate the condition of the fetus.
An ultrasound may show that there is no embryo in the fetal egg. This is an empty shell that can grow without a fruit. This condition is called anembryony.
The use of ultrasound and blood tests in the compartment give a 100% reliable result. If the fetus has really stopped developing, the pregnancy has stopped, urgent measures must be taken to eliminate the negative consequences for the woman’s body
Causes of pathology
Most often, a frozen pregnancy is diagnosed at 6-10 obstetric weeks of pregnancy. But this is not excluded at a later date. In order to prevent the appearance of pathology the next time, you need to know what causes it was caused. There are several dozen of them. These can be inflammatory diseases, hormonal changes. Therefore, pregnancy should be planned, all chronic and acute diseases should be treated in advance. They can negatively affect the development of the fetus.
A dead fetus often results from an abnormal lifestyle. If a woman has bad habits, they must be abandoned before pregnancy. Alcohol, nicotine, narcotic and psychotropic substances are poisons. They kill the fetus, which in the early stages has virtually no protection.
One of the most common reasons why a fetus stops developing is genetic pathology. They explain the development of pathology in 70% of cases. This development of events occurs up to 8 obstetric weeks of pregnancy. If the fetus has serious genetic abnormalities, the body determines this and prevents it from being born. Even absolutely healthy parents may experience a similar deviation. After the termination of pregnancy and the recovery period, the couple will be able to give birth to a completely normal baby.
However, it is possible that several pregnancies in a row do not lead to the desired result. Genetic failure can occur again and again. In this case, a consultation with a geneticist is required. A similar phenomenon indicates genetic failures in parents. Appropriate genetic testing is prescribed.
Hormonal abnormalities
A frozen fetus may be a consequence of a hormonal failure in a woman's body. During pregnancy, progesterone should be produced in sufficient quantities. It saves, supports the entire process of carrying a future baby. If this hormone is not produced enough, the fetal egg cannot properly attach to the uterus. Because of this, the risk of developing a dead pregnancy increases.
Another pathology from the endocrine system is the increase in the woman’s blood of the number of male sex hormones androgens. During pregnancy, testosterone and other similar substances are present in the body, but in minimal quantities. If their concentration exceeds the established norm, certain risks arise. Timely comprehensive treatment is required.
In 20% of pregnant women, the amount of androgen increases (this does not depend on the gender of the unborn baby). Before getting pregnant the next time, women with similar pathologies should undergo treatment. Only by normalizing the hormonal background and controlling it during pregnancy, you can protect the fetus from death.
Infections
In order to avoid fetal death and cleansing during a frozen pregnancy, it is necessary to cure infectious pathologies, if any, in the body. During pregnancy, immunity is greatly reduced. This is a physiological norm, since the body "learns" not to perceive the embryo as a foreign body. But because of this, the likelihood of becoming infected with infectious diseases increases.
If a woman becomes infected, for example, with rubella, the fetus may develop abnormalities, right up to a fading pregnancy. The cytomegalovirus infection leads to the same result. Conventional influenza and SARS can be harmful to the fetus.
Due to infection, body temperature rises, severe intoxication appears. Because of this, less blood enters the fetus. This sometimes leads to the death of the embryo.
Gynecologists say that even before pregnancy, you need to treat your teeth to get rid of the foci of infection, remove the tonsils, if they are constantly inflamed. It is also advisable to get vaccinated against certain diseases, such as chickenpox, if the woman has never been infected with this virus.
Infections such as chlamydia, gardnerella, etc., can be in the body for years without manifesting themselves. With a decrease in immunity, favorable conditions are created for them. This can harm the fetus at any time during pregnancy. Therefore, it is extremely important to undergo appropriate treatment before starting pregnancy.
Treatment features
Many women who have faced a similar problem know that cleaning the uterus with a dead pregnancy is a mandatory procedure almost always. Keeping it is not only pointless, but also dangerous. After confirming the diagnosis, the doctor decides how to rid the uterus of the contents. In this case, the characteristics of the body and the state of health of the woman are necessarily taken into account. The gynecologist takes into account whether there are inflammatory diseases, for how long the fetus has stopped developing.
In some cases, expectant tactics are used. This is necessary when the diagnosis was not able to accurately display the condition of the fetus. To confirm or refute a missed pregnancy, the doctor monitors the level of hCG in the blood of a woman. If its level does not correspond to the gestational age, it gradually decreases, which indicates a gradual contraction of the uterus, which ends in a miscarriage. The fetal egg will come out on its own. Therefore, expectant tactics in this case will be justified.
However, such behavior is justified if nothing threatens the health of the woman. In this case, there should be no inflammatory processes, strong pain. Also, a woman should have a normal temperature, well-being.
Medicines
In some cases, the doctor may not prescribe a cleaning for a frozen pregnancy. An abortion can be done with medication. If the fetus has stopped developing, treatment is prescribed according to a certain scheme. These are progesterone antagonists, for example, such as Mifegin, Mifepristone. In this case, other drugs are also included in the scheme. Self-medication in this case can be extremely dangerous not only for health, but also for the life of a woman.
The medical abortion procedure is under the supervision of a physician. After taking the medicine, after a few hours, the woman begins labor pains. After this, the uterus pushes the ovum naturally. This is a less traumatic way.
Two weeks later, a control ultrasound is prescribed. The uterus is examined for residues of the ovum. It should come out completely. After the procedure, antibiotics are prescribed to the patient to avoid the development of infections.
Scraping
How does cleaning occur during a frozen pregnancy? It is worth considering that medical abortion is possible for up to only 7 weeks. If the gestational age is longer, an operation is performed. Curettage of the uterine cavity is called cleaning. This procedure is done in a hospital under local anesthesia. Sometimes a surgical procedure is required. In some cases, the doctor decides to perform the operation under general anesthesia.
After curettage, the collected material is sent to the study of cells in the laboratory. A DNA analysis of the fetal egg is performed. This is done to prevent the recurrence of such a pathology. With the correct behavior of the patient, subsequent pregnancy will proceed correctly.
After the procedure, oxytocin is introduced into the woman's body. This hormone helps to reduce the uterus. After this, a course of antibiotics is prescribed. This procedure is mandatory after cleaning for a frozen pregnancy. This avoids complications, reducing the risk of developing infections.
In a hospital, a woman spends one to two days. If everything went fine, without complications, she is discharged home, but at the same time constant monitoring by doctors is required. When heavy bleeding occurs, urgent hospitalization is required. This situation is life threatening to the patient. Allocations after cleaning should be sacred. They last no more than a week. If blood appears from the genital tract, you must immediately call an ambulance. This may be a sign of internal bleeding, which requires immediate surgical intervention.
Reviews about the procedure
Many women are afraid of curettage, because they think that this is a painful procedure. It is necessary to consider the features of its implementation, so as not to worry in vain. According to reviews, cleaning a frozen pregnancy is a painless procedure, as it is carried out under anesthesia. Depending on the features of the procedure, general anesthesia may be required.
Scraping, according to doctors, is the most effective procedure by which you can extract all the contents from the uterus during a frozen pregnancy. The procedure does not require special preparation. Before this, you should not eat for at least eight hours. Bowel cleansing may be necessary, for which an enema is given.
There are contraindications for curettage. This can be inflammation of the appendages and uterus, infectious diseases, as well as a suspicion of a violation of the integrity of the mucous membranes of the uterus. In these cases, the procedure for removing the ovum occurs according to a slightly different technique.
More often the procedure is performed under general anesthesia. A woman sits in a gynecological chair, and then she is anesthetized. The patient wakes up either in the operating room after the procedure, or in the ward (it depends on the method of using anesthesia).
In some cases, the use of general anesthesia is contraindicated. In this case, the neck and body of the uterus are chipped with special drugs. As a result, tissues lose their sensitivity.
Some women claim that after the procedure they experience some discomfort. The fact is that before the procedure, the doctor treats the skin with a special iodine solution, and the cervix and vagina with alcohol. Because of this, discomfort can occur.
A special device expands the cervix, is fixed in this position. With the help of a curette, which resembles a spoon, the fetal egg is removed, the mucous membrane of the organ is removed. This procedure lasts 15-20 minutes if there are no complications.
Complications
Cleaning during a frozen pregnancy can result in serious complications. Therefore, the procedure should be carried out by an experienced doctor, and the patient must adhere to the prescribed recommendations.
In rare cases, the integrity of the uterine wall may be impaired. Perforation is a serious complication that requires surgical intervention. This happens extremely rarely. Less than 1% of all curettage procedures result in a similar complication.
Another serious complication is bleeding. You need to see a doctor immediately.
Inflammation is a common complication after curettage. Pain after brushing during a frozen pregnancy, high fever, poor health can indicate infection. After this, adhesions may appear. This leads to disruption of the menstrual cycle, secondary infertility, pain.
Cycle recovery
Menstruation after cleansing with a frozen pregnancy usually recovers after 1-1.5 months. They proceed as usual. At this time, the doctor allows you to resume sexual activity. But a woman will succeed in getting pregnant no sooner than after 3 months. This is at best. Usually a woman recovers not only physically, but also psychologically. And it may take much more time.