Miscarriage

D & C vs. Natural Miscarriage

Current obstetrical practice has moved away from doing a D&C for early pregnancy loss.

 

How a reproductive pathologist can help you get--and stay--pregnant

If the probable cause for your recurrent miscarriages has not been identified, having the tissue from a current loss and/or glass slides from previous losses examined by a reproductive pathologist is especially valuable since it can help you identify any maternal issues that may be contributing to the loss of your pregnancies.

Infections are often a hidden cause of pregnancy loss

Most women and, unfortunately, many obstetricians are not aware that infections can also cause what the doctor "mistakenly" diagnoses as incompetent cervix as well as preterm membrane rupture, uterine contractions and preterm labor.

Latest Research Findings


Researchers have made great strides in diagnosing and treating women who miscarry over and over. Here's the latest news on why you shouldn't give up on having another child.

Was my doctor right in diagnosing a cord accident?

Umbillical cord problems are real problems, especially at term but commonly pathologists believe that a normal cord has enough built-in protection to save itself UNLESS there is some other kind of problem making it harder for the cord to function properly.

Was your loss really chromosomal?

Most doctors won't investigate the cause of a miscarriage until a woman has lost at least two consecutive pregnancies. The physicians assume the losses were due to random chromosomal abnormalities since these are believed to cause 50 to 60 percent of all miscarriages. That's a poor assumption.

What are antiphospholipids & anticardiolipins?

They are antibodies that have been associated with systemic disease and with pregnancy loss. Normally, antibodies are produced by your immune system to fight infectious disease. They can also be produced in the process of rejecting a transplanted organ or skin that's grafted on the surface of the body. 

What is an incompetent cervix?

If you've been told your pregnancy loss was due to an incompetent cervix it's important to have your tissues or slides examined by a reproductive pathologist to identify what caused your cervix to open too soon. Treating the underlying problem would be the most effective way to prevent painless cervical dilatation in the future.

What is blighted ovum?

Blighted ovum refers to a pregnancy in which the embryo did not develop or failed earlier than six-and-a-half weeks. When a sonogram is performed, only the gestational sac that would have surrounded the embryo is seen. The vast majority of blighted ovum are caused by wrong chromosome number in the conceptus.

EDUCATION

 

Dream it.

Scribble Together Whiteboard is the app Steps Tutoring recommends for remote tutoring. Here are instructions for how to use it: 

1. Download the app “Scribble Together Whiteboard” onto an iPad. See also https://scribbletogether.com for information. Tell the person you are scribbling with to also download the app. He or she will also need to have an iPad.

2. Set up the account. The cost for the tutor is $4.99 a month. The student does not pay anything. It is free to the recipient. 

3.  The first thing you should do is create a new, blank white board for your student and name it with the student’s name. Tap the + sign on the top right of the screen. That gives you a new board. Tap the “Created date” words at the top center of the page. A prompt will come up below those words saying, “rename.” Click on “rename.” A box will appear around the “Created date” words and your cursor will be in that box. You will need to delete the words “Created date” and type in the new name. You can save these boards for each of your students. To delete a board, go to the opening page of the app and press your finger on the board you want to delete. An “x” will pop up in the top left corner of all boards the way it does on an iPhone when you delete. Press the “x”s for the boards you want to delete.

4. On your new board, the commands are on the bottom right of the page. You can write with a single finger or an iPad pencil. (Use two fingers for scrolling up or down.)

* To erase something you have written, tap on the icon on the bottom right that shows a dotted circle and finger. Then circle what you want to delete. A menu will pop up allowing you to cut, copy, delete or duplicate what you have circled.

* To change the color of your writing use the circle on the far right of the command line.

* To change the thickness of your writing, use the icon that is second from the right, the one with the pencil over a horizontal line. (You will notice that the color of the line matches the color you have chosen using the circle on the far right.)

5. To add a document to a board for you to share with a student, go to the top right of the screen. Second from the right, you will see an icon of two superimposed pictures. Tap on this icon and you will be able upload a file (from the cloud or files you have stored on your iPad.) If you are using documents for tutoring, please make sure you have access to the documents you need on your iPad, and uploaded onto Scribble before you start tutoring.

6. To invite a student to Scribble with you:

a. On the top right of your open board, will be an icon showing a person.  Tap on the icon and you will see a 4- digit code.

b. The student should have the app loaded and open. The student should tap on the words “Join Board” that appear on the main Scribble page. The student will then be prompted to enter a 4 digit code.

c. Read your 4-digit code to the student.

d. The student will be asked to enter his or her name.

e. You will see on your board a request to allow him or her to share your board. Respond “yes.”  You are now sharing.

f. If you want the student to also be able to write on the board, enable that function.

7. It is assumed that you will also you zoom or Facetime on a laptop with your student. Use the iPad for Scribble as a white board.

Build it.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Grow it.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

 

What is hCG?

Lately, the infertility grapevine has been buzzing with reports of previously infertile women delivering healthy babies thanks to hCG injections. As a reproductive pathologist, Dr. Carolyn Salafia has received numerous e-mails from infertile women asking, "What is it about hCG that makes the difference”

 What you need to know about chromosome issues

If you're on any kind of treatment to prevent pregnancy loss and you lose your pregnancy, you should have that tissue chromosome counted. That's because even though you're being treated, nature can still throw you a nasty curveball and your pregnancy may be chromosomally abnormal.

Why do membranes rupture before the onset of labor?

Rupture of the membranes is a normal process that is brought on by the stress of uterine contractions. What's abnormal is if they rupture in any of these three ways…