MARKETING AFRICA MAL 18/17 mal 18:17 online | Page 62

Gyn Chronicles
PREGNANCY AND
MISCARRIAGE
Dr. Maureen Owiti
O
ne of the challenges about
being a doctor is the fact that
you are always dealing with
some form of pain or loss whether
past present or in future. One of the
most challenging things in obstetrics
is how to handle mothers who are
dealing with any pregnancy loss. The
crux of the matter is more of the
emotional and psychological support
that the client requires because the
management is rather basic though it
can sometimes get very complicated.
Just this recently I’ve had the challenge
of managing more than 3 women with
an early pregnancy loss so that also tells
us that it is quite frequent. articles more user friendly. Poor guy!!!
So what is a miscarriage? This is
defined as any spontaneous loss of
pregnancy prior 20 weeks of gestation.
As one of the biggest culprits please
forgive us to inform people that the
medical term for a miscarriage is a
spontaneous abortion, so kindly no
offence if we get engrossed in work
and slip up and use the “a” word. The first thing I would like to
encourage any woman who has had
a miscarriage is that you are not
alone and the second is that there is
probably absolutely nothing wrong
with you and in the off chance that
there is something wrong your
obstetrician should be able to find a
solution for you as long as you have
an open mind as it may not be what
you think.
Also, just in case I get a bit verbose
please send feedback so that I will
attempt to use as little jargon as
possible however, I believe our very
able editor does a lot to make my
‘‘ Research tells us that the incidence of a
first trimester miscarriage is about 15%-
25%. This means that for every 7 women
with a recognized pregnancy about 1 will
lose the pregnancy in the first trimester. Also
unknown to most women is that 50% of all
pregnancies end up as miscarriages usually
before a missed period or before the woman is
aware she is pregnant.’’
60 MAL 18/17 ISSUE
Why do I say you are not alone? Well
research tells us that the incidence of
a first trimester miscarriage is about
15%-25%. This means that for every 7
women with a recognized pregnancy
about 1 will lose the pregnancy in the
first trimester. Also unknown to most
women is that 50% of all pregnancies
end up as miscarriages usually before
a missed period or before the woman
is aware she is pregnant.
How do you know you are having a
miscarriage?
The most common symptom of a
miscarriage is bleeding. It usually
starts as light painless bleeding and
the amount can increase and be