D&C, how soon would it be done after a miscarriage???

Question

If a woman had a late miscarriage and needed to have a D&C how soon would the Dr. perform the procedure? It would be unsafe to leave to baby inside the woman for a week or more right? If anyone knows the step by step prodocal for a D&C that would be very helpful, also would blood work be done before you have the D&C done?

Answer 1

I'm going to answer this in the reverse order. Yes, as part of the pre-op prep your doctor may order various blood tests such as a complete blood count to make sure that there aren't problems with anemia and such.

The process for a D&C is that after the patient is put under and prepped the doctor will start inserting a series of rods starting with a very small one and going bigger til the cervix is fully opened. Then after that the doctor will insert an instrument called a curette which is used for scraping. They will then scrape out all the products of the conception that are left behind that did not come out within a certain timeframe (of like about a week).

If those products are left in for very long she runs the risk of having an infection in her uterus which can be very serious.

As to how soon the doctor would do it, within a few days or so.

Another good place where you can get more information is at: http://forums.obgyn.net/pregnancy-birth

Also, I would recommend checking with your doctor for even more information.