Ten Years of Misdiagnosed Miscarriages

I realized recently that I began The Misdiagnosed Miscarriage in 2005.  That was ten years ago!

I had actually shared my own misdiagnosed blighted ovum story a year or two before I started the site.  Slowly messages started popping up.  Women were wondering if they could have a misdiagnosed miscarriage as well.  At that time, a Google search of 'misdiagnosed miscarriage' turned up absolutely nothing related to misdiagnosed miscarriages.  That's right, nothing!   I scoured the web for help.  It certainly could not be found on pregnancy/miscarriage forums.  General consensus was to get a D&C and move on. 

With the advent of the site, I also was surprised by the backlash.  Women were upset that I believed I was misdiagnosed.  I was assured by many including one woman who ran a website for women going through miscarriages, that my story was a fluke and doctors would never ever EVER misdiagnose a miscarriage.

Ten years later, and Google results show tens of thousands of pages when you search for 'misdiagnosed miscarriage'.  Our site has nearly 700 misdiagnosed miscarriage stories.  In fact, there are probably more because women will discover they are misdiagnosed and with the sheer number of posts, their story never gets moved to the Misdiagnosed forum.  Looking at my gmail account, I have probably received about 10,000 emails from women about the possibility of a misdiagnosed miscarriage.  A number of those women have been misdiagnosed.  I can do that Google search and find stories all over the web by women who were also misdiagnosed.

What a difference ten years makes!

And, your stories matter!  Ten years ago, doctors were constantly telling women miscarriages are never misdiagnosed.  Now, the UK has recognized this is a real problem and has changed their guidelines in diagnosing a miscarriage.  If they stick to these guidelines, I'd guess they'll eliminate at least 90% of misdiagnosed miscarriage cases.  I hope the United States and other countries are not far behind. 

What can we conclude?  Miscarriages can be and are misdiagnosed.   Every story shared helps so many people and gets the word out there.  Each of you sharing a story is making a difference and saving lives.

Thank you!