Miscarriage in France

Depending on where you are at in the miscarriage will depend on what your doctor or midwife recommends. Here is a breakdown of the 3 options:

Passing naturally

If you decide that you would like to pass the rest naturally, be prepared that it typically takes a couple days up to 2 weeks. You’ll need to schedule an appointment to follow up to see how things have come along.

• If in this timeframe between when you notice the bleeding picks up, there’s any abdominal pain that becomes more persistent or a fever presents, you’ll want to reach out your health care provider. 

At your follow-up appointment, your healthcare provider will check to see how you are progressing. If they see that there is no progress, you will be then given medication to facilitate the rest of the miscarriage. 

Passing medically

If you are directed to this route (or you have chosen it), you’ll be given medication that will cause the uterus to have contractions. The following is what you might experience once you’ve taken the medication:

• Abdominal cramps, more along the lines of cramping during a menstrual cycyle, but more intense.
• Bleeding. 
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Diarrhea.
• Fever and/or chills.

If you do not see any changes 24 hours after you’ve taken the medication, you’ll need to contact your healthcare provider. If you continue to have any pelvic/abdominal pain and/or bleeding you’ll also want to contact your healthcare provider. 

My story: After taking the medication to kickstart contractions, I did not notice really any change, no cramping, or any other side effects after I took the medication. I ended up going back to the emergency department for an ultrasound to see if there was anything left. They still found some tissues and ended up referring me for a aspriation (D&C). I was scheduled to meet with the anesthesiologist to talk about going under for the aspiration. 

Surgical treatment

In France, having a D&C (dilation and curettage) or un aspiration endo-utérine, is typically suggested as a last step in the process if the other options did not work. How a D&C works in France is that it is considered an outpatient procedure (en ambulatoire), which takes place during a half-day. It happens in an operating room with either local or general anesthesia administered. The process is performed by a gynecological surgeon and a team of nurses.

Typically what happens is that the surgeon will use a product that will dilate the uterus so the uterine cavity can be best accessed to remove any and all remaining tissues. When the surgeon is finished, recovery starts and it takes place in a room where you are monitored by a nurse. When you wake up, you’ll eventually be asked if you can stand up and this is to test how you are doing coming out of anesthesia. When you have been given the go signal, you”ll be led to a changing room where you can put your clothes back on, and then to a waiting area where you’ll have a small snack and still monitored before being fully released. 

My story: After my last visit to the ER and the appointment with the anesthesiologist, I was booked for a D&C two days later. I was given specific instructions on what to do starting 24 hours before the procedure. I was to take a shower using Betadine rouge moussante the night before and using the whole bottle, wash from head to toe literally. I also had to do this the morning of before leaving for the hospital. I had to remove any and all nail polish as well as my piercings. I needed to be à jeun (fasting) since midnight the night before the operation as well as take an antigenic test the day before. I was given prescriptions for all of these tests and items needed. 

I was scheduled to be check-in to the hospital for 10:30 AM and would then be discharged in the afternoon. I waited for about 20 minutes before I was called to the counter to check in with the nurse on site. They verified all my information and then asked if Thomas would be coming back to pick me up. He was told that he did not have to wait and that they would contact him when I came out of surgery and came to after the anesthesia. 

I was taken back to a changing room and told to put on a specific set of dressing down, socks, and underwear. I was then taken to a bed where the anesthetist came and introduced himself. He was a lovely fellow and ended up talking about Lord of the Rings because of my tattoos. It honestly could not have gone any better. I was then rolled into the operating room where I met the team that would be working on me that day. I remember them going over who was doing what and how the process would flow. I remember them hooking something up to the port in my arm and then putting a mask over my nose and asking me to count backwards from 100. The next thing I know is that I am waking up in the recovery room with a very dry and sore throat and being thirsty. 

A nurse came to check on me a handful of times, I ended up asking for an extra blanket because I was cold, but I slipped in and out of sleeping. I honestly had no idea what time it was or how much time had passed. The nurse came back one last time and asked me if I could sit up on the side of the bed and take a few steps. I was able to do this slowly and she said that I could then go change and head to the waiting room and wait for the person who was picking me up to come while I ate some biscuits and drank some tea and juice. Thomas eventually showed up and I was given the green light to leave.