Many ERs Offer Minimal Care for Miscarriage. One Group Wants That to Change
A uterine aspiration (also commonly known as a D&C) or the removal of tissue from the uterus via suction.
The procedure is a standard method for treatment of miscarriage and can be a life-saving intervention if a woman is hemorrhaging. But uterine aspiration is also routinely used to perform early abortions, and that's one reason many emergency departments have historically resisted efforts to make the option available to patients who come in for miscarriage-related care.
That care already accounts for more than 900,000 emergency room visits every year, according to the most recent estimates. Now, as states move to restrict access to abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, experts say that number is likely to surge even higher.
"Fewer abortions will mean more pregnancies, and more pregnancies will mean more miscarriages," said Dr. Sarah Prager, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington and a co-author of the guidelines on miscarriage management for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Around 15% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, and the first medical professional many of those patients see will be in an emergency room. Yet, by and large, she says, "emergency medicine physicians aren't trained in managing miscarriage and don't see it as something they should own."
