II. Management: General counseling
- Dispel guilt
- Nothing patient did caused the Miscarriage
- Not due to sex, Exercise, stress, food, minor injury
- Acknowledge grief
- Feeling sad is appropriate in the death of their baby
- Recognize that each parent may express grief differently
- Anticipate anniversary grief in subsequent years
- Reassure about future pregnancies
- Less than 3 Miscarriages does not increase recurrence
- No changes are needed with next pregnancy management
- Exception: 3 or more Miscarriages or late loss
- Do not recommend any lifestyle changes at this time
- Keep in contact for support
- Phone or office visit within a few days to week
- Listening and sharing your own sadness is helpful
- Encourage notifying others who knew about the pregnancy
- Consider designating a friend to tell others
- Children should be told if they knew about pregnancy
III. Precautions: Inappropriate Comments
- You can try again
- At least it happened early
IV. Resources
- Compassionate Friends
- http://www.compassionatefriends.org
- Phone: 877-969-0010
- SHARE Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support
- http://www.nationalshareoffice.com
- Phone: 800-821-6819
V. References
- Deutchman (2000) ALSO Course Syllabus, p. A17-21