What is a blighted ovum?

Answer 1

What is a blighted ovum?
A blighted ovum is a common type of miscarriage. It happens when a fertilized egg implants in the uterus but the resulting embryo either stops developing very early or doesn't form at all. Nowadays, the term "blighted ovum" is considered out of date. Instead, most medical professionals use the term "early pregnancy failure" to describe this situation.

With an early pregnancy failure, you'll get a positive result on a pregnancy test, because the placenta begins to develop anyway and starts to secrete human chorionic gonadtrophin (hCG), the hormone that these tests look for. Early on, you may also have some of the symptoms common in a normal pregnancy, such as fatigue, nausea, and sore breasts. Later, when the hormone levels begin to go down, these symptoms will subside and you're likely to have spotting or bleeding.

What will happen if I have an early pregnancy failure (blighted ovum)?
At first you might notice some reddish-brown staining, or have no spotting at all. Later you might have cramps or bleeding as your hormone levels recede. If you're having cramps or bleeding, or your uterus isn't growing as it should, or if your healthcare practitioner can't hear the baby's heartbeat with a Doppler by 12 weeks or so, you'll have an ultrasound to check on your baby. If it's a case of early pregnancy failure, the ultrasound will show an empty gestational sac.

You're likely to miscarry — that is, to expel the gestational sac and accumulated tissue by the end of your first trimester, though it may happen earlier than that. The miscarriage process can take weeks, though, and once you find out you aren't carrying a baby, you may find it's too emotionally wrenching or physically uncomfortable (if you're cramping a lot) to wait for a spontaneous miscarriage.

In that case, you may be able to use medication to speed up the miscarriage process. Or you may decide to have a suction curettage or dilation and curettage (D&C) to remove the tissue. You'll also need to have the tissue removed if you have any problems that make it unsafe to wait for a miscarriage, such as significant bleeding or signs of infection.

When can I try to conceive again?
You'll probably get your period again in four to six weeks after you miscarry or have the tissue removed. Some practitioners say you can start trying to conceive again after this period, but others recommend that you wait until you've been through another menstrual cycle. (You'll need to use Birth Control during this time, since you may ovulate as early as two weeks after you miscarry.)

Although you may be ready physically to get pregnant again, you might not feel ready emotionally. Every woman copes with the grief of early pregnancy loss in her own way, and some women find it takes months before they're interested in trying to conceive again.