Antai Hospital provides effective treatment for both early and late threatened miscarriages.
Can Threatened Miscarriages Be Saved?
Here at Antai hospital, we believe that a life is still a life, no matter how small it may be. To us, a threatened miscarriage is an emergency that requires immediate attention, even if the mother is not suffering physically.
The doctors at Antai hospital do their best to save every case of threatened miscarriage and thankfully, they have managed to save most of them.
Early Threatened Miscarriage (up to week 12 of pregnancy)
What are the signs of an early threatened miscarriage?
- Physical symptoms. You will first experience bleeding, followed by abnormal pain. Note that if the blood is dark-coloured, the chances of saving the pregnancy is much higher.
- B-Scan. Usually, patients will find out that they are having a threatened miscarriage through a B-Scan during their pre-natal check-up. The B-Scan will reveal a weak fetal heartbeat.
- Level of Progesterone and hCG. The level will be lower than normal in most early miscarriages that can be prevented.
What causes an early threatened miscarriage?
In most cases, an early threatened miscarriage is caused by low progesterone levels. Our progesterone has two main functions:
- Develop the chorionic villi. This is important because it is the chorionic villi that implants the embryo into the uterine wall (basal layer of the endometrium). Low progesterone levels will lead to underdeveloped chorionic villi that are lacking in length, quality, and quantity. Not only will the area of implantation be small, but the implantation will also be very shallow. This results in an unstable pregnancy as the embryo is not properly secured to the uterine wall. Once the embryo falls off the uterine wall, a miscarriage will occur.
- Reducing the sensitivity of the uterus’ smooth muscles. When the sensitivity is reduced, your uterus will not be easily stimulated, making it less prone to contractions. We do not want frequent contractions, especially during the first trimester because the baby will be easily dislodged from the uterine wall. Metaphorically speaking, contractions are like “earthquakes” that can “shake” the baby off from the uterine wall. Hence, the higher the level of progesterone, the less contractions there will be, making the uterus a stable environment for the baby to grow.
Hence, low progesterone level leads to a bad combination of weak implantation and unstable environment, creating a high risk of early threatened miscarriage.
Why do some mothers have low pregnancy-progesterone levels?
Your progesterone is produced by the corpus luteum and some conditions will result in a corpus luteum defect where it is unable to produce sufficient levels of progesterone.
Conditions that can lead to a corpus luteum defect are:
- Endometriosis
- Primary ovarian insufficiency
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome
- Ovarian dermoid cyst
- Pelvic adhesions
- Hyperemesis gravidarum
- Hyperthyroidism
- Hypothyroidism
How do we save early threatened miscarriage?
We save early threatened miscarriage by supplementing progesterone as soon as possible. Although the conditions listed above are the primary conditions that led to a corpus luteum defect, it is not the direct reason behind the threatened miscarriage. Hence, we can wait out the pregnancy before receiving treatment for those primary conditions.
The most pressing issue is to supplement progesterone to save the pregnancy. Since the corpus luteum is unable to produce sufficient progesterone, we will use progestin (synthetic progesterone) to make up for the shortfall.
The only exceptions are hyperemesis gravidarum, hyperthyroidism, and hypothyroidism since these three conditions do not require surgery and can be treated or managed with medications, along with taking progestin.
Note: do not blindly supplement your progesterone level. Many patients still miscarry after having progestin because they were prescribed an insufficient amount. Gynaecologists tend to under-prescribe fearing that too much progesterone will cause the embryo to be implanted too deep into the uterine walls. Through extensive research, Antai hospital created a formula to accurately calculate just the right amount of progesterone supplementation required for each individual. Click HERE to enquire with Antai hospital.
In what situations will an early threatened miscarriage be untreatable?
Unfortunately, there are instances whereby the pregnancy CANNOT be saved. In those instances, the cause of miscarriage is not due to low progesterone.
The pregnancy cannot be saved when:
- The embryo has a low quality. Such situations include chromosomal abnormalities, genetic and hereditary conditions. In this condition, supplementing progesterone is useless because the problem lies in the embryo, not the level of progesterone. A threatened miscarriage due to low quality embryo will show signs of a weak heartbeat, but the progesterone and hCG level is normal. Usually, patients will naturally miscarry if the embryo is of a low quality. Even if the pregnancy is saved, the baby will most likely have some form of deformity.
- Immuno-miscarriage. If the mother has anti-embryonic antibodies (immunity reproductive disorder) in her body, it will attack the chorionic villi resulting in the fibronectin to rupture. The embryo will no longer be able to absorb nutrients and a miscarriage will occur. However, if this condition is found very early in the pregnancy before majority of the fibronectin ruptures, it might still be saved with an immunity treatment and hCG supplementation to stimulate the corpus luteum. Immunity reproductive disorder is a very prevalent, yet little known condition accounting for 70 percent of unexplained early miscarriages. If your fetal heartbeat is weak, your hcG level is low, but you have a normal progesterone level, it is very likely that you have anti-embryonic antibodies in your body. Antai hospital provides a contractual treatment for immunity reproductive disorder with a full refund policy. Click HERE to read more.
Late Threatened Miscarriage (Week 14 to 28)
For late miscarriage, you will first experience abdominal pain, then your water will break. If you experience abdominal pain, you should consult your doctor immediately because it will be too late once your water breaks.
Late threatened miscarriage conditions that can be treated
Cervical insufficiency
Most of late threatened miscarriages are caused by cervical insufficiency. Thankfully, it can be saved. This is a condition where the internal orifice of your uterus has dilated before your delivery date. Click HERE to read more about this condition.
Antai hospital has treated countless cases of cervical insufficiency using Antai cervical ring. It is extremely safe and effective. Atosiban is also prescribed to patients to suppress oxytocin-induced contractions.
Antai hospital provides a contractual treatment for cervical insufficiency with a full refund policy.
Large/ Massive uterine myoma/uterine fibroids
At most hospitals, you will first have to do an abortion before removing the uterine fibroids. At Antai hospital, we can remove the fibroids under a 3D laparoscopy and keep your baby at the same time. After the surgery, atosiban and progesterone will be prescribed to support the pregnancy.
Prevention is ALWAYS better than Cure
Ultimately, it is always better to do a full reproductive check and receive treatment before getting pregnant to prevent any threatened miscarriages. Regular pre-natal checks are also essential to detect a threatened miscarriage early.
Antai hospital specialise in treating various recurrent miscarriage conditions, especially for “unexplained” miscarriages. Detailed and full reproductive checks are available at Antai hospital.
Keywords: threatened miscarriage, low progesterone, antai hospital, early miscarriage, late miscarriage