When you or your doctor is sure of miscarriage (no fetus or heartbeat can be found in an ultrasound), your doctor may give you the decision to either pass the fetus naturally, use a medication to help you pass it (called misoprostol) or undergo a D&C. Depending on how far along you are, your doctor may make a recommendation. Sometimes doctors prefer a D&C because then they can get a tissue sample and perhaps diagnose the reason for the miscarriage.
After you miscarry, you should see your doctor again. He/She should do an ultrasound to make sure that no pregnancy tissue is remaining. If anything is remaining, you could get an infection, which could cause scarring in the uterus, which could make it more difficult for you to get pregnant in the future. Your doctor might want to do some more blood work too.
I was fortunate in both my miscarriages because I did not need a D&C. However, after both of my miscarriages, my doctor did an ultrasound and found some remaining tissue. He was able to extract it there in the office (pain-free), and send it in for testing. I still got an infection after my second miscarriage and had to be on antibiotics.
2. Read as much as you can about miscarriage. Here are some excellent websites. If you bought a pregnancy book, it will most likely discuss miscarriage.
http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1192.asp
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH?t=23831&p=~br,IHW|~st,24479|~r,WSIHW000|~b,*|
If you are scientifically minded, you might prefer this pregnancy book. It also has some helpful information on miscarriage:
http://www.amazon.com/Mayo-Clinic-Guide-Healthy-Pregnancy/dp/0060746378/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267398506&sr=1-1
3. Know your blood type. If you are a negative blood type, you definitely need to talk to your doctor! The fetus often adopts the father's blood type. If the father's blood type is positive and the mother's is negative, the mother's blood may fight against the fetus. You can find out if this is the case and receive an injection. If you miscarry, you need this injection right away.
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/rhfactor.html
http://miscarriage.about.com/b/2007/12/07/pregnancy-loss-and-rh-negative-blood-types.htm
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH?t=23831&p=~br,IHW|~st,24479|~r,WSIHW000|~b,*|
If you are scientifically minded, you might prefer this pregnancy book. It also has some helpful information on miscarriage:
http://www.amazon.com/Mayo-Clinic-Guide-Healthy-Pregnancy/dp/0060746378/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267398506&sr=1-1
3. Know your blood type. If you are a negative blood type, you definitely need to talk to your doctor! The fetus often adopts the father's blood type. If the father's blood type is positive and the mother's is negative, the mother's blood may fight against the fetus. You can find out if this is the case and receive an injection. If you miscarry, you need this injection right away.
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/rhfactor.html
http://miscarriage.about.com/b/2007/12/07/pregnancy-loss-and-rh-negative-blood-types.htm
