This type of miscarriage usually occurs within the very early stages of pregnancy (weeks 2-6), often before a woman even knows she's pregnant. Still, losing your baby, even at an early stage of pregnancy, can be devastating for the parents, far more so than people appreciate who have not been through it.
A blighted ovum eventually results in miscarriage. Some women choose to wait for the miscarriage to happen naturally, while others take medication to trigger the miscarriage.
With a blighted ovum, hCG can continue to rise because the placenta may grow for a brief time, even when an embryo is not present.
A blighted ovum will eventually cause a miscarriage, usually at 7 to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Your body realises that the pregnancy is not developing properly and starts to shed blood and tissue from the uterus.
The three treatment options for early pregnancy loss include expectant management, medical management, and surgical treatment. Medical management with misoprostol and surgical treatment is considered more effective in the management of anembryonic pregnancy.
Blighted ovum
You might feel pregnant. However, the doctor performing your ultrasound will see an empty gestational sac and sadly won't be able to pick up a heartbeat (Moore and Cafasso, 2016; Fertility Authority, 2018).
Having a blighted ovum should not affect your chances of conceiving again in the future, and one study even found that for women who conceive within the first six months immediately after a miscarriage, there was a higher likelihood of a healthy, full-term pregnancy[2.
A blighted ovum can occur so early that it goes unrecognized. However, many women who receive a diagnosis of this condition go on to have subsequent healthy pregnancies.
Blighted Ovum: When a fertilized egg doesn't become an embryo, this type of miscarriage occurs. While your hCG levels may have triggered a positive pregnancy test, they're not likely to rise any further and will instead stay low.
Treatment for blighted ovum. After a pregnancy loss, the placenta and sac need to leave the body. The process can cause pain and bleeding. This can happen on its own, or your body may need help.
How common is a blighted ovum? Blighted ovum is the most common cause of miscarriage. Experts estimate that blighted ovum accounts for about 50 percent of all miscarriages in the first trimester. About 15 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage before 13 weeks of pregnancy.
A blighted ovum is a miscarriage that occurs very early in pregnancy. The fertilized egg is unable to develop into an embryo after it has attached to the uterine wall. This type of miscarriage usually occurs within the very early stages of pregnancy (weeks 2-6), often before a woman even knows she's pregnant.
There are a number of reasons why a blighted ovum can be misdiagnosed. During an early pregnancy visit, your doctor will typically use an ultrasound to look for signs of a viable pregnancy. If the doctor sees what they believe is an empty embryonic sac, they may tell you that you have a blighted ovum.
A blighted ovum is often a one-time occurrence, and rarely will a woman experience more than one. Most doctors recommend couples wait at least 1-3 regular menstrual cycles before trying to conceive again after any type of miscarriage.
In some cases you may suspect something isn't right when pregnancy symptoms, like morning sickness, ease off earlier than you'd expect. However, sometimes a blighted ovum isn't discovered until the first ultrasound scan, which usually takes place between 10 weeks and 14 weeks of pregnancy.
A tube is put through the opening of the vagina and cervix. The tube is attached to a vacuum device. The device creates suction that helps remove the tissue. In some cases, a tool called a curette is used to help loosen tissue in the uterus first.
Surgical management
This treatment involves a surgical procedure known as a dilatation and curettage (D&C) which is done under a general anaesthetic. The procedure will remove any pregnancy tissue from your uterus. It is successful in 95 to 100 per cent of cases but there are small surgical risks.
Normal pregnancies after a blighted ovum are normal. Statistics show you will likely have a normal and healthy pregnancy in the future, even immediately after a blighted ovum. In a study involving women with early miscarriages, around 80% were able to have a successful pregnancy within the next five years.
Treatment for an incomplete miscarriage
There are 3 options available: waiting for the miscarriage to happen by itself naturally (expectant management) taking medicine to help things along (medical management) having surgery to remove the pregnancy (surgical management).
If it is an incomplete miscarriage (where some but not all pregnancy tissue has passed) it will often happen within days, but for a missed miscarriage (where the fetus or embryo has stopped growing but no tissue has passed) it might take as long as three to four weeks.
These problems are most likely to occur when the uterus does not completely empty. (This is called an incomplete miscarriage.) For many women, the body completes the miscarriage on its own. If you decide not to treat your miscarriage, see your doctor.
Often, some of the pregnancy tissue remains in the uterus after a miscarriage. If it is not removed by scraping the uterus with a curette (a spoon-shaped instrument), you may bleed for a long time or develop an infection.
In some cases, surgery is used to remove any remaining pregnancy tissue. You may be advised to have immediate surgery if: you experience continuous heavy bleeding. there's evidence the pregnancy tissue has become infected.
Some people get pregnant immediately after a miscarriage. Other couples take a bit longer. Try not to worry if you've conceived quickly in the past and it's taking longer this time, it may just be your hormones and body need time to readjust.