Early Pregnancy Ultrasound: Vaginal bleeding and miscarriage
OMNI provides high quality imaging and care for women who have any degree of vaginal bleeding in the 1st trimester. Vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy is very common, occurring in about 30% of all pregnancies. Importantly, not all women with vaginal bleeding in the first trimester are miscarrying. Nevertheless, unexplained bleeding in early pregnancy causes great anxiety and uncertainty for expecting parents.
Transvaginal ultrasound or internal ultrasound scan, is the best way to find out what is happening with the pregnancy. This bleeding often occurs without warning and consequently we will always endeavor to see the woman the same day.
Vaginal bleeding can be with or without clots, spotting only or a blood-stained discharge. The blood can be bright red (fresh), pink (very light) or brownish in colour (old blood from a few days previous). Regardless of the amount or type of vaginal bleeding present, an ultrasound is necessary to determine the viability of the pregnancy. Occasionally, some mild cramping, or period-like pain and/or backache will also be present.
An internal ultrasound is the best way to confirm the viability of the pregnancy. If there is any doubt about the viability of a pregnancy on scan, OMNI will always perform an interval scan in 7 days.
In case of miscarriage, OMNI offers non-surgical management or expectant management to selected women with miscarriage. This means adopting a "watch and wait" approach to see if nature takes its course and allowing the miscarriage to occur spontaneously. This is instead of the usual management of miscarriage with surgery in the form of D&C (dilatation and curettage). This traditional approach means having a general anaesthetic, instrumenting the womb (uterus) and emptying the womb of its contents, which many women are extremely keen to avoid.
If non-surgical management of the miscarriage is appropriate, OMNI will arrange a weekly scan as part of the follow up. If vaginal bleeding is severe or there are any signs of infection (fever, chills, offensive discharge), then it is not appropriate to have expectant management and surgery will be necessary (see "Pregnancy After Care" section).
