The most dangerous are the first days and weeks of the baby’s development. On early stages During its development, the fetus is most sensitive to damaging, destructive factors.
What should a pregnant woman be wary of?
Diagnosis of the disease
Signs and symptoms
In most cases, a stop in the development of a child is not felt by pregnant women and is not accompanied by pronounced symptoms.
In the early stages:
- disappearance;
- increase in appetite;
- reduction of pain in the mammary glands.
On later:
- appearance bloody discharge;
- increased body temperature;
- nagging pain in the lower back.
Such signals can also accompany the normal course of pregnancy. Only a specialist can definitively confirm the death of the embryo through ultrasound and research. Who is to blame for failed motherhood?
Causes
As a rule, a frozen pregnancy is the result of a combination of unfortunate circumstances and factors.
The reasons can be divided into several groups.
Genetics. Sometimes during the formation of an embryo, various changes occur in chromosomes, genetic disorders (a larger or smaller set of chromosomes).
The reason for this may be hereditary predisposition, drug use, alcohol use, or living in environmentally unsafe areas.
Genetic disorders are the most important causes of this pathology (up to 70% of all cases). “Wrong” genes can be inherited from both parents.
Infections. Infectious diseases of the expectant mother are the second most common cause non-developing pregnancy:
- viral - enterovirus;
- bacterial - mycoplasmas, streptococci, gonococci, chlamydia, ureaplasmosis.
As a result of the presence of any infection, acquired or chronic, in a pregnant woman, infection occurs ovum.
Infection can occur in three ways:
- With the inflammatory process of the uterine mucosa and its appendages(endometritis, salpingoophoritis) microbes penetrate the fertilized egg. In this case, the woman’s uterus itself is not ready to bear a child, the fertilized egg is not attached tightly enough, and it is rejected.
- With inflammatory processes in the vagina itself(fungi,) bacteria penetrate the fertilized egg through the cervix. The embryo becomes infected and amniotic fluid, which is fraught with rupture of the fetal bladder itself.
- When transferred viral infections (, acute respiratory infections,) microbes penetrate the fertilized egg through the bloodstream through the placenta. The supply of oxygen and nutrients to the unborn baby is significantly deteriorating
When infected, the fetus stops developing and the child dies.
Do not forget that pregnancy is accompanied by severe suppression of the entire immune system. An exacerbation of all hidden infectious diseases in a woman.
Therefore, it is very important to treat all hidden infections in a timely manner before planning motherhood and do everything possible to avoid catching colds while pregnant.
Immunology. Sometimes a woman may have various predisposing factors that can cause the death of the embryo. This is the appearance of protective antibodies to the hormone produced by the fertilized egg (antiphospholipid syndrome), incompatibility at the immune level of the father and mother.
Immunological incompatibility can be expressed by increased thrombus formation. In all cases, the nutrition of the embryo is disrupted, its development stops and the death of the fetus occurs.
Endocrinology. Pathological condition endocrine system pregnant woman can cause fetal death. Reasons for violation proper operation endocrine system and hormonal disorders there may be many.
The most common of them are:
- increased amount of sex hormones male type(hyperandrogenism). In 20% of cases during pregnancy, there is a sharp jump in the level of male hormones.
- increased amounts of the hormone that stimulates milk production (hyperprolactinemia).
- disruption of the proper development of the ovaries (), which affects the menstrual cycle and the production of female sex hormones.
- improper functioning of the thyroid gland (dystrophy, obesity).
- underdevelopment of reproductive female organs(infantilism).
In case of disruption of the endocrine system The body produces in insufficient quantities a hormone that is responsible for preparing the entire female body for pregnancy. The embryo, which is weakly attached to the uterus, receives insufficient nutrients and dies.
Women may be considered at risk who lead an incorrect lifestyle that is harmful to the state of pregnancy. Constant stress, overexertion, long-term depression. Work in unsuitable conditions (high humidity, constant stuffiness).
All this can lead to the appearance and abruption of the placenta, which disrupts the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the fetus and, as a result, the death of the unborn baby.
Multiple abortions, transferred . Woman's age(in case of the first one), features of the anatomical structure of the uterus(saddle-shaped,) - all this refers to the provoking factors for the appearance of pathology during pregnancy.
According to the observations of experts, pregnancy, compared to natural pregnancy, has a greater chance of becoming frozen and ending in the death of the embryo.
What awaits a woman who has had one or more unsuccessful pregnancies, what do doctors say about this?
Consequences of a non-developing pregnancy
As a rule, the vast majority of women have every chance of conceiving a child again and carrying it safely to term.
According to statistics, this is 80-90% of all women who are faced with a frozen pregnancy.
If conception ends in the death of the fetus in two or more cases of pregnancy, then the non-developing pregnancy goes into the category of “habitual”.
In this case, in order to safely carry the baby, a thorough examination of both spouses is required.
Pregnancy after illness
Planning your next pregnancy permitted six months after failure.
This break is aimed at the complete restoration of hormonal status and reproductive functions of the body and includes the following mandatory examinations:
- Ultrasound of the pelvic organs;
- PCR diagnostics (detection of urogenital infections);
- blood test for autoantibody levels;
- blood test to detect antibody titer;
- determination of the level of thyroid hormones in the blood.
This list can have many more items. Apply to every woman individual plan examinations prescribed by a gynecologist.
But how is a non-developing pregnancy treated, what do doctors do in this case?
Treatment of non-developing pregnancy
If a pregnant woman is found to have a frozen fetus, doctors develop tactics for taking measures for delivery, based on each specific case.
Spontaneous. Later for a short time after the death of the embryo, the woman’s level of placental hormones sharply decreases, which leads to spontaneous miscarriage.
With the help of medications. In the early stages of a frozen pregnancy (up to 8 weeks), doctors can use the antagonist drug mifepristone (progesterone) in combination with misoprostol (an analogue of prostaglandin E1). After these two drugs enter the body, the embryo is rejected and miscarried.
Surgical treatment. This method is carried out in a hospital setting. Curettage (curettage of the uterine cavity) is prescribed on an individual basis. The operation is similar to an abortion and is performed under general or local anesthesia.
Not a single woman is immune from this misfortune. Non-developing pregnancy– this is not a disease, not a diagnosis, not a sentence. This is a warning that motherhood needs to be carefully and intelligently planned.
It consists in the fact that nothing bothers the woman for some time after intrauterine death fetus She enjoys her position, sometimes not suspecting that the child does not develop and dies, especially in the first and early second trimester, when future mom does not yet feel fetal movement. Unfortunately, this can happen to any woman.
information The symptoms of a non-developing pregnancy are slightly different (before 12 weeks) and (after 12 weeks) terms, but they are all divided into probable and reliable. The first category includes those symptoms that may prompt the doctor or the woman herself to undergo a more detailed examination, but are not the main ones for determining a frozen pregnancy. Reliable signs are those on the basis of which a diagnosis is made.
Symptoms of frozen pregnancy in the early stages
Possible symptoms in the early stages
- The very first signs of a frozen pregnancy in the early stages are a decrease in the woman’s subjective sensations that appear with the onset of conception: manifestations (nausea, vomiting), engorgement of the mammary glands, sensitivity to smells, changes in taste preferences.
- Decline. Basal temperature (resting body temperature, which is measured in the rectum at the same time in the morning, without getting out of bed) increases in the second phase menstrual cycle by 0.3-0.5 degrees and remains elevated during conception and pregnancy. This is facilitated by high level the hormone progesterone, which maintains pregnancy. If fetal freezing occurs, the basal temperature drops to normal (36.4-36.8 degrees Celsius). However, this can also occur with a lack of the hormone progesterone, and with a threatening miscarriage.
- Gynecological examination. During a gynecological examination, the doctor assesses the size, consistency of the uterus, length and density of the cervix, patency cervical canal(cervical canal). A sign of a frozen pregnancy is the smaller size of the uterus compared to what it should be at a given expected period. If the doctor discovers such a discrepancy, it is necessary to do an ultrasound of the uterus to confirm or refute suspicions.
- Bloody discharge from the genital tract. Usually the appearance of bloody discharge indicates the onset of spontaneous miscarriage. Most often, this symptom occurs some time (2-4 weeks) after the intrauterine death of the baby.
- Nagging pain in the lower abdomen, increased pain, also occurs after some time has passed after the fetus has died.
Reliable signs of a non-developing pregnancy
- You can detect a frozen pregnancy in the early stages using human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). HCG is produced by the cells surrounding the embryo, starting from the 7th day after fertilization. Every day the level of this hormone almost doubles and reaches a maximum by the 10th week of pregnancy, then gradually decreases and remains at the same level until childbirth. At the earliest stages, when the fetal heartbeat is not yet detected on ultrasound, fetal fading can be suspected based on the level of hCG, since each stage of pregnancy is characterized by a certain hCG level, as well as its daily growth up to 10 weeks. If human chorionic gonadotropin is below the levels typical for a given week of pregnancy, and when the analysis is repeated the next day, its level drops, this gives the right to diagnose fetal fading.
- To one of reliable signs frozen pregnancy refers to the absence of a fetal heartbeat on ultrasound. The baby's heartbeat begins to be detected from the 5-6th week of pregnancy. Therefore, if the fetus is visualized well, but there is no cardiac activity, this means that the fetus is frozen. But if the heartbeat is not detected at the earliest stages, and only the fertilized egg is visible, you need to wait and do a second ultrasound after 5-7 days. During this period, the size of the fertilized egg at normal pregnancy increase.
The violation criteria are:
- Absence of heartbeat when the coccygeal-parietal size of the fetus is more than 5 mm;
- Absence of an embryo when the size of the fertilized egg is more than 25 mm;
- Abnormal yolk sac.
Signs of frozen pregnancy in late stages
additionally In addition to those listed, from the middle of the second trimester another sign of a frozen pregnancy appears - the woman stops feeling the baby move. Usually she begins to feel it from 18-20 weeks (it matters whether it is a repeat pregnancy or not, and the build of the woman herself).
At first, the movements are not so obvious and active, more like bowel movements. Sometimes the baby’s movements during the day are not so active. A woman is busy with her daily activities, especially if she is still working and is constantly on the move, so the slightest movements of the child may go unnoticed. And when, in the evening, the expectant mother can finally relax, lie down on the sofa or bed, the child’s activity increases (at least it feels that way) and the mother can concentrate and enjoy the kicks of her baby. Pay attention to your baby's activity throughout the day. If he hasn't pushed you for a long time, sit down, rest, talk to him to feel his presence. If you haven't felt any movement for 6 hours, it's a cause for concern!
If, after all, you have been diagnosed with a non-developing pregnancy, do not despair. Take this as an opportunity to prepare more thoroughly for your next pregnancy.
Reliable signs in later stages
A reliable sign of intrauterine fetal death is the absence of a heartbeat during ultrasound examination.
Signs of a non-developing pregnancy are varied. Conventionally, they can be divided into subjective and obvious (proven through medical examinations). Let's consider both.
Possible symptoms
1. Disappearance of toxicosis. Of course, it should not last throughout pregnancy, but unpleasant symptoms in the form of nausea and vomiting usually disappear gradually, over several days or even weeks. If there was severe toxicosis, which suddenly stopped, this should alert you.
2. Disappearance of breast tenderness- these are the symptoms a frozen pregnancy can have. Moreover, not only breast tension can disappear, but its size may even decrease somewhat. The chest seems to fall. This symptom is especially noticeable in the case of pregnancy of 8-10 weeks or more.
3. Bloody, beige, brown vaginal discharge, abdominal pain- usually such signs of a non-developing pregnancy in the early stages indicate the onset of a miscarriage. But such a natural termination of a frozen pregnancy is not possible in all cases. Often a miscarriage does not occur for 1-2-3 weeks, and then curettage of the uterine cavity is necessary. In addition, do not forget that these signs can also arise during a threat in the case of normal developing intrauterine pregnancy, and ectopic - which is especially dangerous.
4. Decrease in basal temperature. Many women know that in the second phase of the menstrual cycle and during pregnancy, the temperature in the rectum should be elevated - above 37 degrees. A decrease in temperature may be due to a lack of the hormone progesterone or the death of the embryo.
5. The first signs of an undeveloped pregnancy can be determined by a doctor during a gynecological examination., when he notices a discrepancy between the size of the uterus and the gestational age (calculated according to the first day of the last menstruation). Or if since the last gynecological examination, carried out 1-2 weeks before, the uterus did not grow at all.
Absolute signs
1. Absence of heartbeat in the embryo(determined from the fifth week of pregnancy during ultrasound examination). If the heartbeat is not detected, the woman is advised to repeat the examination in a few days. If a heartbeat does not appear, it is recommended to remove the non-developing fetus and its membranes by curettage of the uterine cavity.
2. Lack of growth, low levels of human chorionic gonadotropin- this is how a frozen pregnancy always manifests itself in the early stages - the first weeks. Human chorionic gonadotropin is a hormone produced by the chorion (future placenta) that rises rapidly in the first trimester. There are its norms, departure from which indicates pathologies. For women at risk of miscarriage, doctors prescribe periodic blood tests for hCG. And if there is no growth of the hormone, they are sent for an ultrasound.
At the end of the article, it is worth saying that a non-developing pregnancy is a very common occurrence. According to statistics, approximately every 8th pregnancy ends in the death of the embryo. In most cases, the cause is chromosomal abnormalities, but there are frequent cases of the harmful effects of infections, toxic substances and medications. To minimize the likelihood of this unpleasant pathology, plan your pregnancy, get everything checked necessary tests, undergo examinations, listen to the doctor’s recommendations and do not self-medicate.
It is not for nothing that doctors today talk so much about the need to plan a pregnancy, approach the process of bearing a baby very responsibly, and carefully prepare for this. This is how many problems can be avoided, one of which is a non-developing pregnancy, i.e. death of the fetus while still in the uterus.
Unfortunately, women are increasingly faced with the problem of miscarriage, especially in the early stages, and embryo development stops in 10-15% of cases (up to 20% after IVF).
The reasons may be different, because during the first trimester the fetus is just developing and is least protected from external influences (the same placenta is just forming during this period). Doctors carefully study the problem and what causes the embryo to freeze, but often it is difficult to get to the truth. Among the pathologically dangerous factors are:
- genetic disorders of hereditary nature,
- parents’ lifestyle (alcohol or drug abuse, living in an environmentally unfavorable area),
- infectious diseases. These can be viruses (ARVI, rubella, herpes), fungal and bacterial infections (chlamydia, mycoplasmosis),
- immunological incompatibility of parents,
- hormonal imbalances in the female body,
- endocrine disorders (thyroid diseases contribute to increased synthesis of male hormones, which dulls the production of progesterone (the female hormone responsible for pregnancy)).
Adverse consequences can result from: stress, poor diet, circulatory problems, and some chronic infections that are not treated in a timely manner.
Signs of problems with pregnancy can theoretically appear at any stage, but most often (according to the observation of specialists) this occurs during so-called “crisis periods”:
- implantation - it starts from the 7th and ends on the 12th day,
- embryogenesis - follows after implantation and lasts up to 8 weeks,
- placental formation – first trimester (up to 12 weeks),
- during the formation of important body functions - from approximately the 20th to the 24th week.
This topic is very exciting and sensitive. Talking about this is always difficult and joyless. But you can’t remain silent either, because undeveloped pregnancies, unfortunately, are not that uncommon today.
If the fetus froze at term, when a rather large belly was already visible, then it may decrease slightly in size. At later stages, the absence of movements for an extended period of time will indicate freezing.
Whenever a misfortune occurs, a woman may feel very bad for no apparent reason, as it seems to her.
The described signs of a non-developing pregnancy can appear individually or in combination, several at a time, or be completely absent - in each individual case everything happens differently.
We sincerely hope that this information will forever remain theoretical and unclaimed for you. But if, God forbid, something else happens, then don’t be upset: 80-90% of women successfully carry their next pregnancy to term. Moreover, the chances of success increase if the pregnancy is planned in advance, undergoes and is properly prepared for motherhood (and fatherhood too).
Especially for- Elena Kichak
