If a foetus's heart stops beating, will you miscarry automatically or do you have to abort it?

Answer 1

For grayhare, the baby is a fetus after 12 weeks, yet legally it's considered a miscarriage until 20 weeks, in most states.

Most women will automatically miscarry, however, for some there will be placenta left remaining and a D&C will clean everything out. For some it is also a matter of quickly getting through a miscarriage, miscarriages after 12 weeks are very painful and drawn out, often taking as long as labor...two or three days of contractions and at least a week of bleeding. A D&C speeds this process up and reduces a lot of the pain.

Answer 2

Sometimes the body will miscarry completely on its own. However, the problem is when you don't miscarry fully or at all. Any of the products of conception left inside you could cause infection and prevent future pregnancies, that is why this situation needs to be closely followed by an Ob/Gyn doc. If you do miscarry on your own, usually an ultrasound is done to make sure everything has passed. If not, a D&C is usually done. Good luck to you and know that if you have miscarried, many women go on to have healthy pregnancies after a miscarriage. It is just very important to gave good medical care. Take care.

Answer 3

If you are far enough along for it to be considered a fetus, you won't miscarry. MIscarriages are in the first 14 weeks, I believe, and if the baby died at that point most women would miscarry. Sometimes, however, something goes wrong and the mother's body doesn't naturally abort the embryo. In that case, the hospital would do a D&C which is the same procedure as early aborions, but I don't think it counts the same since the baby is already dead. If the baby's heart stops at the point when it is a fetus, it would be considered a stillborn. It's up to the doctor, but if your body doesn't naturally start trying to rid itself of the baby, some doctors will basically induce labor...others will have you carry the fetus until your body naturally goes into labor, and then you basically give birth to the dead baby. It's very sad. I know all this because it happened to my friend. Her baby died when she was six months along, and she had to continue to carry it until she got to her due date, and then her body went into labor like everything was normal. Her baby was born without a brain. It was scary.

Answer 4

You should naturally miscarry, but more than one woman I've known has not had that happen, so they ended up with a D&C (or D&E) to remove the dead baby. If the doctor was just impatient or if the miscarriage would have actually not happened, I don't know.

grayhare: Your story was so sad :-(

Answer 5

Yes,usually your body will naturally miscarry it,this can take up to a few days to a couple weeks even..if it doesnt happen naturally or slowly they will either give u a d&c (if u are over 14 weeks) or they will give u meds to take to speed the process *thats what i got*...

Answer 6

It may take weeks for your body to react to a miscarriage. With my first pregnancy, the baby stopped growing at 7.5 weeks, but my body acted as if I were still pregnany for three weeks. At that point, I started bleeding. Your body may naturally deliver the fetus, or your doctor may recommend a D&C, depending on the situation.

Answer 7

It happened to me at 13 weeks and I didnt know it until 16 weeks. No bleeding or cramps or anything. I had to have a d&c

Answer 8

It has been my experience (women I've Known, not me personaly) that when if a fetus dies, it does not always spontaneously abort.

Answer 9

It all depends, each case is different