Frozen (non-developing) pregnancy

The diagnosis of “non-developing pregnancy” indicates that until a certain period the pregnancy developed normally, and then for some reason the fetus died and the pregnancy stopped developing. And although this can happen at any stage, in the vast majority of cases, pregnancy regression occurs in the first trimester.

A regressing pregnancy may not clearly manifest itself for some time and can only be determined by ultrasound performed as planned.

A sign of an undeveloped pregnancy may be the disappearance of such subjective signs of pregnancy as nausea, drowsiness and other early signs of pregnancy. However, these symptoms should not normally accompany a woman throughout her pregnancy. And some people don’t have them at all, so you shouldn’t rely too much on your feelings in this situation. Often the moment of fetal death is elusive.

There may be symptoms of a threatening miscarriage (bloody discharge, nagging pain), but the appearance of these symptoms does not always indicate the death of the embryo, therefore, if you seek medical help in a timely manner, the pregnancy may be able to be saved.

During a gynecological examination, a discrepancy between the size of the uterus and the gestational age is observed.

More valuable are objective indicators such as:

- the content of the hormone hCG in the blood - during a frozen pregnancy, which decreases. Ultrasound does not detect the heartbeat and movement of the embryo or anembryony (an “empty” fertilized egg).

Most often, if a non-developing pregnancy is detected, instrumental removal of the ovum or medical abortion is performed (if the gestational age allows). If a miscarriage occurs on its own, it is imperative to do an ultrasound to rule out retention of the remaining fertilized egg.

Main reasons:

  • abnormalities of fetal development resulting from genetic pathology or exposure to harmful factors in early pregnancy.
  • infections (rubella viruses, CMV, herpes simplex, Coxsackie, streptococci, Klebsiella, E. coli, mycoplasma, chlamydia, toxoplasma, etc.).)
  • hormonal disorders (hypofunction or hyperfunction of the thyroid gland, adrenogenital syndrome, etc.)
  • thrombotic complications caused by genetic (hereditary) defects of the coagulation system.
  • blood coagulation disorders (antiphospholipid syndrome)

For the first or only frozen pregnancy in your life, it is not advisable to conduct an in-depth comprehensive examination of all systems to exclude the listed causes of frozen pregnancy. In nature, there is a percentage of losses determined by natural selection. An in-depth examination is required in case of two or more pregnancy losses, with a burdened family or personal history, with existing diseases that can lead to a missed abortion.

Doctor of the gynecology department No. 1 of the 1st City Clinical Hospital Dolmat E. A.