Conservative management of spontaneous abortions. Women's experiences.

OBJECTIVE

To describe women's experiences with expectant management of spontaneous abortions.

DESIGN

Descriptive survey using questionnaires with fixed-choice and open-ended questions. The latter were analyzed for themes, using qualitative methods.

SETTING

Urban and suburban private primary care family practices.

PARTICIPANTS

A convenience sample of family practice patients (59 of 80 eligible) pregnant for less than 12 weeks who had spontaneous abortions without surgery. Response rate was 84.7%; 50 questionnaires were received from the 59 women.

METHOD: Women were asked about their physical experiences, including amount of pain and bleeding; emotional effects; their satisfaction with medical care; and their suggestions for improving care.

MAIN FINDINGS: The mean worst pain experienced during a spontaneous abortion on an 11-point scale was 5.9. Bleeding varied, but was often very heavy. Satisfaction rate was 92.9% with family physician care and 84.6% with hospital care. Women described the emotional effect of "natural" spontaneous abortions and made recommendations for improving care.

CONCLUSIONS

A better understanding of the physical and emotional experiences of the women in this study might help physicians better prepare and support patients coping with expectant management of spontaneous abortions.