When A woman miscarries why do doctors put in their notes that they have had an abortion.?

Question

I know it means the foetus has been aborted from your womb but I found this very upsetting when I went through my second pregnancy and a nurse said " I see you previously had an abortion" It made me feel as if she thought I had deliberately got rid of my child.

Answer 1

I totally understand your feeling , my Doctor did the same to me when i miss carried my baby , i became upset and told my Doctor i did not and would never consider aborting my child. he apologized and explained it a medical term they use,called spontaneous abortion . i ask the term be removed from my chart . he did mark Thor this term and replaced it with miscarriage. so maybe you could ask your Doctor to do this. i don't know if doctors realize how much pain a woman is all ready feeling .if they do then i found it to be very inconsiderate of my feelings to refer that i aborted my baby . i was not about to let it go until that term was removed from my chart . anyway good luck to you and i am truly sorry about the loss of your child.

Answer 2

What we call a miscarriage, doctors refer to as a "spontaneous abortion". If they neglect to use the term "spontaneous", it can be very misleading. At your next appointment, request that the notes be amended to reflect the fact that you had a SPONTANEOUS ABORTION, rather than a optional one. Explain that you have been upset by a nurse who misinterpreted your chart and that you don't want it to happen again. If the nurse or MD you speak to refuses, you have the right to speak to the hospital administrator about this. Good luck, and I'm so sorry to hear of your loss.

Answer 3

I had two miscarriages without D&C, and apparently it was not written as abortion, because the nurse/doctor always check my records and say "I see you've had two miscarriages."

But my best friend had a miscarriage followed by D&C, and it was noted as "Abortion".

All the above persons are right about miscarriages being categorized as "Spontaneous Abortion". But I still think it should be written clearly in the medical record, because in a m/c nobody likes to hear that they've caused the "Abortion".
As if we haven't blamed ourselves enough.

Answer 4

When a woman miscarries normally she is sent for a DNC , when a woman has an abortion the machine thay use is near enough the same thing , i live in Ireland and hear if you miscarry thay don't give you a DNC because to the Irish it is classes as an abortion ,even thought the child has started to abort itself , i hope you told her and ask them to change your notes,

Answer 5

It is simply the nurse being ignorant or insensitive. Miscarriages are designated natural abortions.

there is a terrible problem with this in the modern world as natural abortion is the bodies natural way of dealing with a problem and medical science tends to stop this happening and results in children born with problems.

Please do not be put off with a nurses ignorance. In fact you could probably report her even now. Should report it now to stop another person mother or father suffering uncalled for distress from unprofessional behaviour.

The chances are good for many good natural pregnancies and healthy children.

Good luck to you!

Answer 6

I'm sorry you had to go through that but next time bring it to the nurses attention that it was not an abortion but a spontaneous abortion and may next time she will use the proper term and save someone else from going through this painful experience

Answer 7

I remember something like that when I miscarried. My OB was trying to explain that I had a missed miscarriage, but somewhere in there she said the word aborted (I think - I was so very emotional and upset at the time that its hard to remember everything exactly) but I gave her a funny look, and she corrected herself. I'm not even sure what my records say, but thanks for posting this, I'll make sure not to freak out if I ever hear a nurse tell me that.

Answer 8

I have a big problem with this too. When I miscarried with my first pregnancy the procedure name on my bill was non-elective abortion (I had DNC), and I brought up how insulted I was by this term. I think it is a slap in the face to a mother for it to be worded this way! They explained it to me that it was simply the "technical" name for it, and not to worry everyone knew that abortions weren't performed in hospitals. It still ticks me off though.

Answer 9

My last misscarriage was called Missed Abortion AKA Miscarriage. It meant that my fetus had died, but the miscarriage hadn't happened yet, it was going to shortly after. I was sent home to wait it out.

The medical term abortion is used in reference to miscarriages because the medical term "abortion" refers to any terminated pregnancy, deliberately induced or spontaneous, or missed.

They usually put what type of abortion though, or so they have in my past. I've never had a deliberately induced abortion.

Answer 10

Your doctor should have written "spontaneous abortion"!!!

Shame on that doctor, when a woman miscarries or spontaneously aborts she is considered "at risk" for her next pregnancy. Your current doctor should be informed correctly. You have a right to see the contents of your medical records. Now, we know another reason to review them often.