QuestionI had my IUD removed last January, I got pregnant the next month. I went to my OB doctor and everything seemed fine, I heard the baby's heart beat, then I went in for a ultrasound at 12 weeks and I found out the baby's heart stopped beating at 9 weeks, once they measured and figured out the baby was not developing anymore. I got over that, then I got pregnant again in July of that same year. But when I went in for the first visit, I saw something that startled me, it was twins sacks however they where not the normal football shaped embryo's, they never developed, I was told after I did my own research, it was called a blighted ovum, I never heard of anything like that. So I ended up having two miscarriages within 7 months. Now I meet a lady, who had the exact same situation and I'm curious to know if it was possible that because I had the IUD, could it have damaged my uterus, because I have three children already, which of the two, one pregnancy was twins and I carried them to 37 weeks and my other pregnancy to 38 weeks with no complications. Please help me understand if the IUD could have caused issues with my ability to carry children anymore, and I have been trying to have another child and I have been unsuccessful so far.
Thanks Tia from Columbia, SC
Answer
Dr. Ramirez
Hello,
The IUD is not a cause of your miscarriages. If the IUD had any effect, which is the formation of scar tissue within the uterus, then implantation would not occur and you would not be able to become pregnant. The loss of a pregnancy at 8 weeks or more is usually due to an abnormality with the embryo. This is usually a spontaneous chromosomal breakage during development that leads to an abnormal embryo, anatomical defects or a blighted ovum (empty sac where the embryo does not develop at all). Miscarriage is nature's way of ended an abnormal pregnancy. The other factor that could influence this is your age. Miscarriages increase with increasing age because more and more of the eggs in the ovary are poor quality, leading to abnormal embryos. The good news is that most women with recurrent miscarriages will eventually have a successful pregnancy, as long as you are not too old.
Sincerely,
Edward J. Ramirez, M.D., FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
Monterey Bay IVF Program
www.montereybayivf.com
Monterey, California, U.S.A.
check out my blog at http://womenshealthandfertility.blogspot.com for more information and answers.
