Hi Melissa
I am so sorry to read of the loss of your little girl.
I lost my son last November due to IC and am currently almost 23 weeks pg with a little girl. My ob recommended a preventative cerclage which was placed vaginally at 14 weeks of this pg. It is basically like a drawstring which is meant to help keep the cervix from dilating prematurely. As I am still on this journey and currently on bedrest due to my cervix shortening recently I can't testify for how successful the cerclage has been, but I suspect that were it not for that and also the extra monitoring I am under this time, we might not be this far along. Already we are almost 2 weeks ahead so that has to be a good thing!
As for the abdominal cerclage, I do know of a lady that has one here in Australia and so far in her pg she has had no problems and has needed no bedrest. Certainly the stats from overseas show it to be slightly more successful but I'm not sure how many doctors do them here. It wasn't something my ob suggested and unfortunately I think that sometimes a failed vaginal cerclage is needed for that extra step to be suggested. I could be wrong though. I have also read that the abdominal cerclages are used if the cervix is too short for the normal drawstring. For me, my cervix length is nice and normal...until we reach the 21 week mark of pg!
There are a couple of other threads about IC and cerclages here if you want to have a look -one is in the pg area, Medical conditions (I think) and also under the Loss section there is a post called "new and sad' which has some stories that might help too.
Good luck and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Everyone here is great.
I read that article too, and was wondering the difference between the keyhole surgery and a normal cervical stitch @ 13-14 weeks.
I looked in to it when pg with DS, because there was a drug that was given to women up til the late 70s ( I was born in 1977) for threatened miscarriage - which my mum had, and one of the effects they have discovered since is that daughters of women who took it can have IC. I got her to ring the hospital and aparently they stopped using it in 75 or 76.
I hope that you are offered some hope & options for the future
I suppose I am one of the sucessful stories in this department.
I prev lost 2 preg at 20 weeks before they decided that I was worth the risk of infection with a cerclege. Mine was done at 13 weeks and held with no shortening at all till 37 weeks.
The specialist that did mine had his own technique which placed the stitch high up in the cervix, and did alot of this procedure. I am 100% sure with a normal stitch I may not of got as far as I did.
Good luck do your research and my prayers are with you and your partner to get thru this terrible loss
I am so very sorry for the loss of your little girl.
I lost my little boy in July this year due to IC and need a cervical cerlage next pregnancy also. I have done alot of research on IC and the various stitches that can be performed. From what I have read, the abdominal cerlage is done prior to pregnancy and can actually stay there until you complete your family. I have heard it is a little more successful than vaginal cerlages but means you have to deliver by C-section. Like AngelLukesMum said, I think they only consider it for women with naturally short cervixes. Now unless the article is describing a new type of abdominal stitch on the market, the abdominal stitch in Australia is not at all common.
Can you tell me which paper the article was in? I would love to read it.
Thanks for the link Mesi. I didn't realise it was the first time this procedure was performed here in Australia. I will definitely have a chat to my FS/OB about it. Would love to hear about any more info you get on this.
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