Volume 3 Issue 3 - Late Summer 2008

by Lifang Liang

In Western medicine, there are three stages to a miscarriage or spontaneous abortion: 1) threatened miscarriage, 2) incomplete miscarriage, and 3) complete miscarriage. The patient may experience any or all of these stages. In threatened miscarriage, there is slight bleeding and lower abdominal cramping. However, the cervix is still closed and, therefore, treatment may prevent the further stages of miscarriage from occurring. In this case, a blood test is required to see if there is a positive and high hCG level to indicate a thriving embryo. If a positive and high hCG level is present, there is an approximately 90% success rate of carrying the foetus to full term. However, a positive hCG level that is low may indicate risk of losing the pregnancy.