It is no consolation when it has happened to you, but it is estimated that half of the conceptions end, for various reasons, in spontaneous abortion, some of them even before we know that we are pregnant. It sounds hard, but at least it relieves knowing that you are not the only one.
More or less, we all know how conception occurs, one of nature's greatest miracles. The union of an ovule and a sperm form an embryo, that embryo is implanted in the uterus and nine months later a baby is born. Explaining it seems easy, but it is an extremely complex process.
There are times when the mechanism fails, causing a miscarriage, more frequently in the first trimester of pregnancy. A type of spontaneous abortion, perhaps the most frequent with an incidence of around 50%, occurs when an egg fertilized by a sperm implants itself in the wall of the uterus, but the embryo does not develop. It is called anembryonic pregnancy or pregnancy with empty egg.
The ultrasound shows an embryo sac inside the uterus formed by the placental tissue but no embryo inside. When it happens we try to find the reason, if we have done something that we could have avoided, but the causes are, most of the time, genetic or chromosomal failures that prevent the embryo from developing properly in the early stages of pregnancy.
AdvertisingThe cells have begun to divide to form the embryo, but their development stops before reaching the size of 1mm so it cannot be seen on an ultrasound.
The symptoms of pregnancy begin to be noticed as in any pregnancy. The rule does not appear, the test is positive, nausea begins, breast tenderness and discomfort in the lower belly. All the signals coincide with those of pregnancy but when performing the ultrasound the embryo is not detected.
In some cases, the ultrasound is performed so early that it is very difficult to see the fetus in the uterus, but it is believed that from the 7th week of gestation it is already possible to see the embryo through an intravaginal ultrasound.
In the first weeks of pregnancy, usually before the 10-12 week, the woman may notice that the symptoms decrease or disappear and that vaginal bleeding occurs, sometimes accompanied by severe pain, an obvious sign of spontaneous abortion.
The gynecologist will evaluate, according to gestational age, how to proceed. In some cases a spontaneous loss is expected to occur, while in others medication or curettage is used, a surgical treatment to remove the placental tissue inside the maternal uterus.
The psychological sequelae in women before an anembryonic pregnancy are traumatic, especially when it comes to the first pregnancy. Doubts arise about whether they can have children, the guilt of not being able to conceit and similar traumas living a sad and hard time hard to overcome. Those of us who have passed it know that the loss of a pregnancy is a bitter drink.
But they must know that an anembryonic pregnancy is something much more frequent than we think and that it is definitely an unfeasible conception that in no way would have come forward. Human creation is not as perfect as we would like.
Anembryonic pregnancy is a common abortion class that does not involve any reproductive involvement for women. After three or four months, pregnancy can be re-attempted, successfully succeeding in most cases in the coming months.
Only if it occurs in a repetitive way, 3 or more abortions, whether embryonic or not, can it suppose any reproductive problem that should be evaluated by a specialist.
