Woman enters a new phase of her life during pregnancy. This Pregnancy turns her into a more responsible and more mature human being. Knowing she carries a new life within her excites her and her family. Pregnancy is dream come true for her. But sometime this dream could turn into a nightmare, a nightmare called Miscarriage. Miscarriage is defined as sudden loss of woman’s pregnancy before the 20th week which could be both physically and emotionally painful.
In this article:
Reasons Behind Misdiagnosed Miscarriage
What are the Chances of Misdiagnosed Miscarriage?
Misconceptions Regarding the Misdiagnosed Miscarriage
How to Ensure The Miscarriage Is not Being Misdiagonsed?
All you Need to Know about Misdiagnosed Miscarriage
Reasons Behind Misdiagnosed Miscarriage
Being pregnant is beautiful but not simple, various complications may take place during this period like ectopic pregnancy , miscarriage etc. Among various complications during pregnancy miscarriage is one of the common phenomenon but in most of the cases it is misdiagnosed.
So, if the doctor is terminating the pregnancy and the miscarriage is not natural then the facts behind this should be known, and the pregnant lady and doctor both should be sure about the diagnosis because sometimes termination of pregnancy may cause harm to the normal pregnancy of the lady.
Some reasons behind misdiagnosed miscarriage are as follows:
Presence of Heterotopic Pregnancy
The levels of hCG and pregnancy are correlated. Hence when the doctor finds the hCG level decreasing , it may be concluded that a miscarriage has occurred. In case of heterotopic pregnancy a woman has two pregnancies. One is at it’s normal site that is uterus and other is ectopic. When the ectopic pregnancy fails , the hCG levels drop down but the normal site pregnancy in uterus stay intact and healthy .
Wrong Interpretation of Hcg Levels
hCG levels are quite unstable during pregnancy and this fall and rise cannot be explained. As pregnancy proceeds, foetus starts growing and with this level of hCG should also increase. However , if the levels are not raised as expected the doctor might diagnose it that the foetus is dead. But this is not right always and the level might delay to rise.
Unable to Find the Baby During an Ultrasonography
Ultrasonography the basic major technique to detect baby in the uterus and identify its location and other features by the means of ultrasound machine. The machine has a fixed threshold and detects echoes it receives when interacted with other objects of specific size. Usually , in one month pregnancy the foetus reaches the size of 13-15 mm and is easily detected by the ultrasound machine. But in some cases reported , even 20 mm foetus could not be detected and could be considered as miscarriage of the child.
An Incorrect Date of Conception
As soon as the woman conceives , the embryo starts to develop and grow fast and implantation follows it. During this process , a heartbeat cannot be detected but embryo could be seen in some cases. Many a times the doctor repeat the ultrasonography after a week if the embryo is not detected earlier. This is completely reliable on the date of conception. If this is termed to be earlier than it actually is , it could make the doctors to believe that miscarriage has occurred.
The Lost Twin
Sometimes, the initial tests and ultrasound usually detect the presence of twins present in the uterus. However , late tests might end up show up only one foetus being present in the uterus and the other foetus is not seen. This indicates the one twin has been miscarried while the other has grown. But , there are chances both the twins are alive and one of them might hide above the other foetus and isn’t seen as their heart beat aren’t distinguishable at this point of phase.
What are the Chances of Misdiagnosed Miscarriage ?
This is not likely to occur often. If the ultrasound is conducted before completion of 6 weeks or vaginal ultrasound is not used , Doctors might interpret it wrongly and conclude that the miscarriage has occurred.
Misconceptions Regarding the Misdiagnosed Miscarriage
Many parents find it hard to believe the fact that miscarriages could be misdiagnosed. This is due to some factors which shows miscarriage, and the factors are:
Heartbeat Absence
Usually heartbeat sound is observed and heard during ultrasonography and is a sign of relief for parents as it confirms them the essence of foetus inside. However , if the same observations are not seen in consecutive ultrasonography does not mean the child has been miscarried. The heartbeat can be heard later in the following week .
Foetus without Heartbeat is a Clear Sign of Miscarriage
Yes foetal heartbeat is crucial sign , but position of foetus in uterus and ultrasonographic angle of machine are also important in detection of heartbeat.
Pregnancy is Easily Detected in all Kind of Uterus
Almost all kinds of changes in uterus are able to carry pregnancy healthily to its full completion but a tilted uterus may result in problems during ultrasonography. This tends to improve as pregnancy proceeds and progress with smarter approach requirements.
Good Hcg Levels for Spotting a Baby
A high hCG level can be seen during ectopic pregnancy along with uterine pregnancy which is way too smaller than ectopic pregnancy to be detected on ultrasonography.
How to Ensure The Miscarriage Is not Being Misdiagonsed ?
If at initial phase of pregnancy it indicates a miscarriage then it is best to repeat ultrasounds and tests after a week or so. Even changing doctors could be helpful.
Misdiagnosed miscarriage due to heavy bleeding is rare because it is only seen when intercourse has taken place during pregnancy.
Conclusion
Parents are conscious and very much concern about pregnancy and here the patience plays important role . All they can do is keep patience close to their heart and do not come to any conclusion with reports of single test to avoid the misdiagnosed miscarriage.
Reference
https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/misdiagnosed
https://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20411859,00.htm
