Difference between blighted ovum and missed miscarriage?

[butterfly_warrior]

Yesterday my FS told me my pregnancy was a blighted ovum.

Two weeks ago, we saw a heartbeat. Yesterday the baby had died, but my body had held on. I thought this was called a missed miscarriage.

I don't know why it bugs me to be thinking it's one, but told it's another.

I guess it doesn't really matter, either way my baby is gone.

Is there a difference?

BW

[aussienic]

I thought there was... I had a blighted ovum with my first mc and for 3 weeks we had ultrasounds and blood tests before they came to the result the pregnancy wasn't continuing with my 2nd mc I had a scan at 10 weeks which showed the baby had died.. This was classed as a missed miscarriage as my body didn't know to expel the baby. horrible way to put it I know but thats the only way I can think of how to say it..

Also I always thought a blighted ovum only developed to a certain amount of cells. So technically it is a baby but still in the cell stage..

sorry for you loss

[csab]

So sorry for your loss - TC. You are in my thoughts.

[Angel Babies 3]

BW, once again can I say how sorry I am for the loss of your darling little one.

I have had a blighted ovuum and was told that it was when the egg had failed to grow successfully although there would still be a yolk sac visable. They said that there would never have been a heartbeat to see. A missed miscarriage is where the baby has died but the actual miscarriage process hasn't started. Sometimes the loss of the baby is only discovered when the woman goes for an U/S.

Hugs and good wishes,
Debbie

[Tobily]

I'm really sorry for what you've been through BW.

I've had both a blighted ovum and a missed miscarriage and yes there is definitely a difference.

A blighted ovum is a fertilised ovum that never gets past the early division stage. In effect there's no baby to speak of and as angel babies said, no heartbeat to see.

My missed miscarriage was at nine weeks and there was a formed baby seen on ultrasound, with no heartbeat. My body just didn't do what it needed to to expel it, which is why it's a missed m/c.

I think it's perfectly normal to be bothered about being told two different things, I would be also. It's so normal to want to know all the ins and outs of why this happened and your perfectly entitled to accurate information to help you process this. If it's bugging you I would suggest you talk to the OB/hospital again or perhaps ask for a copy of the ultrasound report so you can put your mind at ease.

Hugs to you at this difficult time.

[Willow]

Hey Sweetie, as the other girls have said, there is a big difference.

Flea has described it perfectly. If you saw your little catepillar's heartbeat, then it was not a blighted ovum.

I can't work out how he could make this mistake unless he was very busy and was thinking of another patient??

[{sarah}]

Hun I agree with the others, a blighted ovum wouldn't have had a heartbeat.

*hugs*

[mrsaym]

BW, I also had a blighted ovum and there is a difference.....sac was visible but no fetus.....if you saw a heartbeat your FS definetly got it wrong...maybe he just got it mixed up.....yes though either way you still had a baby in you

I am so sorry for your loss it is a really sad time.

Lots of hugs...

Mich xox

[Inanna]

Butterfly... As if you don't have enough to wonder about my love ... :hugs:

What you have been told is erroneous as the other wise women have said... A blighted ovum is basically when the cells don't divide properly. These are generally very early miscarriages and there is never a heartbeat.

A missed miscarriage is when the baby flys away but no sign is seen by the mother. Often symptoms can continue. This can happen for some weeks before the baby is passed. :hugs:

[butterfly_warrior]

At yesterday's scan there was an empty sac, no baby, no heartbeat.

I'm starting to feel like I'm in some sort of freakish limbo between the two. Some things point to one, other things point to the other.

It's so like me to be different.

BW

[Inanna]

But Butterfly you had seen your baby's heartbeat at u/s at an earlier date hadn't you? I wish I could take away your hurt...

[ttcin2007]

i dont know if this helps but mine was called a missed m/c. When we went for our 9 week scan the sac only measured 5 weeeks and there was a yoke, Hormone level 8500. But when we went back a week later the scan showed the sac had grown to 6 weeks but there was nothing inside and hormone levels were 6000ish. So i never had a heart beat either. I wonder if mine was a blighted Ovem??/
I hope i havent confused you.

[butterfly_warrior]

At 6w5d we saw the heart beat. At what should have been 8w5d we had a gestational sac measuring 7weeks, no baby, no heartbeat.

I can see why the FS said blighted ovum - that's essentially what yesterday's scan revealed. But when you take the scan of two weeks ago into account, there's an argument for saying missed miscarriage instead.

Ultimately, I guess it doesn't really matter either way. Whichever one it was won't change the fact that my baby has gone. It's just something that bugged me.

BW

[Inanna]

If you saw a heartbeat and that was confirmed little Caterpillar was not a blighted ovum. He/she was an embryo with a beating heart.
I think your specialist is not remembering or taking into account that a heartbeat was seen and this is where the confusion lies. I understand needing to know everything and to understand everything. You should ask as many questions as you want right now Butterfly. With all of the wonderful women on here there will always be someone who will be able to help...

[aussienic]

I don't get why your FS would call it a blighted ovum when a HB was seen 2 weeks ago..

I hope you can get some answers. even if just for your peace of mind.

[mummytotwo]

BW - I am really sorry for your loss & the confusion over what actually happened. You deserve answers so pls when you feel strong enough find out for sure. I hope you & DH get through this horrible time ok. Big hugs to you....

[~StarBright~]

Hello Butterfly I am so very sorry about your loss. i hope someone can come up with answers for you.
I had a m/c where the baby appeared to stop growing at 5 weeks but i held on to it until 12 weeks. My DH said to me (trying to make me feel better) that it wasn't really a baby because the cells hadn;t divided and it hadn't gotten a heartbeat. I remember wanting to slap him across the head because whether cells had divided or not, i was pregnant and now i wasn;t. That is a loss of a baby any way you look at it.
Take care Butterfly Warrior xo

[butterfly_warrior]

Some reading... and some quotes.

In the case of a blighted ovum:

Typically the trophoblast and gestational sac will develop but the embryo itself will not - there will be no fetal heart beat, or it will be present only transiently

None of this tells us anything about the reason the pregnancy has gone awry, because many different causes produce the all too common picture of such a blighted ovum. Once the symptoms and signs of a miscarriage become apparent, it's for the subsequent pregnancy that we can hope there will be a difference

From "Getting Pregnant - A compassionate resource to overcoming infertility and avoiding miscarriage" by Prof. Robert Jansen.

Definitions from the glossary of said book...

Blighted ovum: An old-fashioned term for an inevitable miscarriage, meaning that the ovum (in its classical sense for professional ambryologists) has not developed normally after fertilization, there being present just the supporting tissues and no embryo. The term is descriptive; it has no diagnostic value as to the cause of the miscarriage.

Missed miscarriage/missed abortion: A miscarriage that should have happened but hasn't. As a result, the pregnancy tissue in the uterus gets tougher and more difficult to get out with a uterine curettage - which is the only treatment for it, but risks producing intrauterine adhesions. The pregnancy test can stay positive for many weeks or even months.

So... I guess that means it was both. Whether it was one or the other, it makes no difference to the cause, nor does it give any indication of whether it is likely to happen again. And it doesn't change the outcome for me now.

It does tell me that I'm not going ahead with another transfer until there has been investigation into the cause of this one. Whether it's done by the current FS or by Dr S, or both... it will happen!

BW