Postpartum Bleeding & False Pregnancy: Understanding Your Situation

Question
Dear Mr Kandeel,
I gave birth to my daughter 4 months ago. I had some spotting February 14, March 13 and Aprel 16 which cannot be called as 'menstruation'. On 18th April I made a pregnancy test and it was positive. Nearly ten days I all saw 'positives'. Then I went to a doc for an ultrasound and my doc said that there was no pregnancy instead I had a 18 mm follicle. Can I still have some B-hcg on my urine after 4 months? Or should I go to doc again?

Sincerely,
Gunal

Answer
Gunal

Sometimes in few cases, remnants of pregnancy such as placental tissue are retained inside the uterus after delivery. This manifests clinically as spotting unrelated to menstruation, as in your case. However, your doctor who examined you should have seen it by ultrasound. If not I advise consultation with a gynecologic oncologist. Some diseases after pregnancy results in the presence of B-hCG in urine but usually the level of b-hcg in these cases is very high.

best wishes.