Could I have miscarried without knowing it?

Dr Ann Tan from Pacific Healthcare answers a reader's question about miscarriages and not knowing it.

Miscarriage without knowing: What the doctor says

The Doctor thinks I am 3 to 4 weeks pregnant. My uterus is enlarged, but during the transvaginal ultrasound they couldn’t see the gestational sac.

They said it could be because it was too early. But my HCG level was only about 74. They said there’s a chance I could have had a miscarriage without knowing knowing it. But I had NO cramping or bleeding. What’s going on?

Dr Ann Tan: Yes a BCHG level of 74 is below the level where anything can possibly be seen even on the transvaginal scan and the level suggests a very early pregnancy of 3 to 4 weeks. You should just have a repeat blood test done say 3 days later to determine if the levels are rising well i.e. doubling to indicate a healthy pregnancy progress.

We must remember that our ovulation dates are not regular as we would like them to be and hence your dates could be not indicative of the actual date of conception.

Don’t jump to conclusions. Just repeat the test and talk to your gynaecologist!

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Dr Ann Tan

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