Bleeding following pregnancy loss before 6 weeks' gestation.
BACKGROUND
Pregnancy loss before 6 weeks' gestation is common, but little has been reported about the associated bleeding. We compared women's bleeding following a pregnancy loss before 6 weeks' gestation with their typical menstruation.


METHODS
Women provided daily urine samples while trying to become pregnant and recorded the number of pads and tampons used each day. Thirty-six women had complete bleed data for a loss before 6 weeks' gestation and one or more non-pregnant cycles.


RESULTS
Mean bleed length following a pregnancy loss was 0.4 days longer than the woman's average menstrual bleed (P = 0.01), primarily because of more days of light bleeding. Although there was no overall increase in the total number of pads plus tampons used, women with losses bled less than their typical menses following pregnancies of very short duration and more than usual for the pregnancies lasting the longest.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the bleeding associated with pregnancy loss before 6 weeks' gestation is similar to menstrual bleeding and unlikely to be recognized as pregnancy loss. The intriguing finding that pregnancies of very short duration were associated with less bleeding than the woman's typical menses might reflect endometrial factors associated with loss.
Promislow
J H E
JH
Social and Scientific Systems, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Durham, NC 27703, USA. promisl1@niehs.nih.gov
Baird
D D
DD
Wilcox
A J
AJ
Weinberg
C R
CR
D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000097:blood; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008598:Menstruation; D008599:Menstruation Disturbances / Q000209:etiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First
D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin