Understanding Possible Miscarriage Symptoms: A Midwife's Perspective

Question
I am a midwife and have been trying to conceive for over 18 months. I have polycystic ovaries and my consultant thinks my tubes are damaged. My husband also has a low sperm count, so we basically had no chance without icsi. I recently started what I thought was a period but soon after passed what looked like a small sac. My consultant was very doubtful that it was even a pregnancy and said it could have been other tissue that can some times pass following a long gap between periods (i forgot what he called it) also my hcg levels were less than 5 just a couple of days after I passed it. Even though we were distraught, it felt like there was some hope that we could get pregnant. Would like your thoughts?

Answer
I am not a qualified medic and I could not give you any accurate answers. I'd be inclined to agree with your doctor though. I have PCOS and I have be known to go over a year without any bleeding, and when I do bledd it is clotted tissue type blood. As you have been advised I was told this was because of the long gaps between bleeding. As your hcg was under 5 I would again say it is very unlikely that you had a pregnancy.

I would ask your doctor for a scan to assess the damage to your fallopian tubes. The PCOS does sometimes reduce the chances of conceiving, but there are things you can do to help yourself. Loosing weight, if necessary is the best way, eating a good diet, low GI diets are good for PCOS. A good healthy diet could also help your partners sperm count, and wearing loosely fitted clothing.

As I have stated though, I am not a qualified doctor, and I can only advise on knowledge I have picked up from other people and my own experience. There is no certain way of finding out if you have had a pregnancy or not, and I think its important to focus on future pregnancies. Try to improve your lifestyle, and your fitness so you are in peak condition for carrying a baby, I'd also speak with your doctor about more detailed tests to find out exactly what obsticles you're up against. Even with damaged tubes, and PCOS the womb still works, and it only takes 1 sperm. Stay positive!

Good luck,

Christine