Diagnosis

A miscarriage can be diagnosed in the absence of typical miscarriage symptoms.

The most reliable way of confirming a pregnancy loss is with an ultrasound scan. Unfortunately, some women and birthing people do not discover an issue with the pregnancy until they attend routine scans. This is referred to as a missed (silent) miscarriage.¹

Sometimes, you may require more than one scan, as clinicians need to be certain that the baby has died and the pregnancy will not continue. These are usually 7–14 days after the initial scan.^1–3 This is usually common in the first trimester as dates can be uncertain, or the ultrasound scan indicates a pregnancy at the earlier stages before a heartbeat can be confidently identified (usually before 7 weeks). Waiting between these scans can cause a lot of anxiety, and it is normal to feel pessimistic or in denial about the diagnosis, especially if a heartbeat was detected at an earlier scan, but this is to minimise the risk to an ongoing pregnancy.¹

When a miscarriage or pregnancy loss is confirmed on a scan, the sonographer may see:³

• A pregnancy sac and/ or an embryo, but with no detectable heartbeat
• A pregnancy sac that is too small for that stage of pregnancy
• An empty sac with no visible embryo
• A foetus (in the second trimester) with no detectable heartbeat

You may also hear the terms foetal pole or foetus depending on the stage of pregnancy.

Where bleeding is a main symptom, the pregnancy sac or baby may be delivered, which confirms the pregnancy loss. In these instances, a scan will be offered to ensure the miscarriage is complete if bleeding persists.²

This can be an extremely difficult time. It is normal to feel overwhelmed by the process and medical jargon.

It may be helpful to ask: